


The Long Way Home

by ohemgeeitscoley



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, rockstar!fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1426267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohemgeeitscoley/pseuds/ohemgeeitscoley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver is more famous for his womanizing ways than his band Green Arrow is for making music. Felicity agrees to help out a friend by going on tour with him to make a documentary on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This would be nothing more than a "please somebody write this" tag on a photoset if it weren't for thecoolcheryl. Between her cheer leading, beta-ing, and thought having, I owe her a lot. Let me know what you guys think!

Felicity sighed, looking around the club for Tommy Merlyn’s face. She wasn’t sure why they had to meet at a club to discuss his idea. It seemed a little informal, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she trusted her brother, she would probably find it a little creepier. She wasn’t much for the club scene to begin with, and she was positive she stood out like a sore thumb next to the more hardcore Green Arrow fans. The appeal of Oliver Queen’s band was lost on her. Sure, some of his beginning work showed some promise, she might even still have his first CD somewhere in a box leftover from college, but he fame had gone to his head, at least that’s what it looked like as an outsider. Four arrests, multiple lawsuits, countless woman hanging off of him in pictures, all in less than five years. She could never figure out how he and Tommy could be best friends. Granted, she only knew Tommy through her brother, but she liked to think that she knew him well enough to know that he was a pretty decent guy. 

Felicity felt a hand on her elbow. She immediately pulled her arm away from the person, turning around to look at him. Her eyes grew a little taking him in. He was tall, dark, and handsome, and his arms were quite large. She was really hoping he was with security and just wanted to check her ID. “May I help you,” she asked, crossing her arms across her stomach.

“Are you Felicity Smoak?” The man smiled at her, and she felt her stomach ease up.

“No.” Felicity scrunched her eyebrows, why would security know her name. 

“I’m Oliver Queen’s bodyguard. Tommy sent me out here to get you.”

Felicity tilted her head; that explained the arms. “Say I am Felicity, where would you be taking me?”

The man laughed. “Right over there,” he replied, pointing to the table Tommy was at.

“Well then, yes, I am Felicity Smoak.” 

“John Diggle.” 

“Nice to meet you Mr. Diggle. I don’t need you to escort me over there though, I think I can make it.”

“As you wish.”

Felicity smiled at John, before making her way over to Tommy.

“Tommy.” Felicity smiled as he stood up, pulling her into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“Thanks for coming out. I know I didn’t give you much notice.”

“Of course.” Felicity slid into the seat across from him. “So what’s this all about?”

“I have had a project floating around my head for a couple of months. I remembered Mike saying you were a film major. When I asked him what you were up to and explained the project he said you were working out here and that he thought you would love this opportunity.”

Felicity bit the bottom corner of her lip. “I’m a production assistant, Tommy, I’m not really seeing what kind of project I could help you with. I’m not very musical.”

“I remember some very well written poetry actually.”

Felicity blushed. “Is there anything my brother didn’t share with you about me?”

Tommy laughed. “He’s proud of you.”

“You going to explain this project to me?”

“I want you to make a documentary about Oliver Queen.”

“A documentary?”

“Yes.”

“How long are you guys going to be in Starling?”

“Tonight.”

“I don’t know what Mike told you Tommy, but I can’t get enough footage for a commercial in that amount of time. Definitely not enough for a documentary.”

“Let me be more specific. I want you to come with us and make a documentary.”

“You want me to spend the next what six or eight months on a tour bus with Oliver Queen?”

“Yes.”

“Tommy. I don’t—I don’t know what you know about my work, but I haven’t actually shot a lot of stuff. I mean I’ve done some small stuff, but what you want, I’m sure you could find someone much more suited for the job.”

“I don’t agree. The stuff that Mike sent me showed promise, and I don’t want this to be some big budget, corporate feeling documentary. I want it to feel real, to feel intimate. I want the viewer to get to know the real Oliver. And I may not know you very well, but Mike talked about you all the time. If you are half the girl he thinks you are, you are the person I need for this.”

“That’s flattering. It really is, Tommy.” She paused, not quite sure how to phrase her thoughts. “It’s just… well, you say you want the world to get to know Oliver, but I think what you want is for this documentary to show that he isn’t who he appears to be in tabloids. I’m not convinced of that, and I will not paint him in a positive light if that isn’t what is real.”

Tommy smiled. “And that is exactly why I want you. You’re right. I want this to be a way to help Oliver show everyone that there is more to him than they think, because I think that there is. I could be wrong though and I’m just too close to him to see it.” Tommy looked down at the drink in his hand, tilting it slowly back and forth. “I’ve known Oliver my whole life, he’s my best friend. I want to believe that the guy I grew up with isn’t who is in the tabloids.”

“You’re his manager, Tommy. I mean, that question shouldn’t be that hard for you to answer. You’re with him every day.”

Tommy sighed. “I think the persona you know, and I’m guessing aren’t a fan of, is one that was created to sell records. I don’t believe that it’s really who he is, I think it’s who he was suggested to become. I think it’s easier to be that person.”

“You’re doing an awful lot of defending.”

“I am.” Tommy sighed. “So why don’t you just agree already and you can make up your own mind.”

“This is crazy. I don’t even have the type of equipment that would be needed to do this.”

“You have a video camera?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds like all you need.”

Felicity tilted her head. “You weren’t kidding about the intimate feel, were you?”

“I want it to be real. So many things surrounding Oliver are bigger than life, even before all of this. He’s the son of a billionaire, he has always been seen as a larger than life figure. I want to take that away.”

“How did you convince him to go along with this?”

Tommy didn’t say anything, he simply lifted the glass in his to his lips, finishing it off. Felicity laughed, shaking her head. “You haven’t have you,” she asked.

“He won’t put up much of a fight.”

“I really doubt that.”

“Don’t worry about him. If you’re in, I can take care of him.”

Felicity closed her eyes. “What about my job? I can’t just go off for over half a year without some sort of notice. I might need them as a reference when this goes south.”

“It’s a risk. I won’t lie to you about that. But what’s life without a little risk?”

Felicity shook her head slightly, he had a point. She had been working as a PA for three years, and while she knew that the film industry was set in stone on its idea of paying dues, three years as a glorified intern was getting tiresome. This was an opportunity to make something, something that had a built-in fan base. It would open doors, and Tommy wasn’t asking her to lie, or to skew the outcome in any way. It was a solid deal. If life were a movie, this would be the big moment. The one that would make or break her character, open doors or slam them in her face. There were risks, but he was right. If she didn’t take this opportunity, she would still be a PA tomorrow. If she did, she would be the one in charge.

“What time do we leave?” Her voice betrayed the hesitation she felt, coming across strong and confident. 

“Six hours.”

Felicity opened her eyes to glare at Tommy as he smiled at her. “Six hours? I don’t even know if I can pack in six hours.”

“You don’t need much. There isn’t really a lot of room. Some clothes, the stuff you’ll need for the video. We can grab anything else on the road later on.”

“Not all of us are kids of billionaires Tommy.”

“Consider it a perk.”

“I’m regretting this decision already,” she mumbled as she stood up. “I guess I’ll see you in six hours.”

“Thank you.” 

Tommy watched as she walked away from the booth, shaking her head every couple of seconds. He heard Oliver’s voice come across the room, followed by the rampant sound of screaming. He rubbed small circles into his temples. The near constant headache he had been suffering from was getting old. He cringed when he heard Oliver’s voice go across the speakers. He could hear the slur. It wasn’t strong enough that someone not listening for it would notice, or if he was being honest, someone whose only experience with Oliver had been recent, but it was there and it shouldn’t have been.

Oliver needed a wake-up call. Tommy wasn’t sure if Felicity’s documentary was going to be enough, but it was the only plan that he could come up with that didn’t involve friends and family gathered around in circles for an intervention. Oliver didn’t have a lot of friends, not real ones anyway, and his family had been waiting for him to mess his life up since he first told his dad that he wasn’t going to college and take over as CEO of Queen Industries, that he wanted to make music instead. Tommy didn’t want to be the one to let them win. Besides, Oliver wasn’t known for accepting what other people thought would be best for him. He always needed to figure things out for himself. 

Tommy stood up and started walking toward the exit. He only had a few hours of quiet left. The show would be over soon enough and then he would have to explain all of this to Oliver. A nap and some medicine were definitely going to be needed if he was going to have that conversation with any success. He weaved through the crowd with ease, thankful that the sound from inside was fairly muted when the door closed. 

He made his way over to the bus, smiling at the driver before going inside and heading straight for his bunk. He grabbed the headache medicine he kept beside the bed and counted out the correct number of pills, swallowing them without water. He pushed all thoughts of Oliver and the soon to be had conversation out of his head and drifted off to sleep.

Tommy was surprised when he left his bunk to see Oliver sitting on one of the couches watching TV. He hadn’t changed out of his stage outfit, so Tommy wasn’t sure how long he had actually been on the bus, but he was thankful that he wasn’t in a loud or angry mood. 

“Everyone else passed out?” Tommy asked, sitting down across from Oliver.

“Digg went out to grab some food before we hit the road, the rest have their own bus for a reason: I don’t care.”

Tommy sighed, ignoring the comment. He didn’t need this conversation to start with an argument. “How long until we leave?”

“About an hour.”

Tommy nodded repeatedly, a nervous tick he wasn’t all that aware off. He wasn’t sure how to bring the subject up without Oliver immediately dismissing it. He was regretting sleeping when he should have been writing up proposals or charts. Not that Oliver would look at them, or even find them useful, but it would make him feel better. 

“Spit it out, Merlyn.”

Tommy’s lips tugged up slightly. “You’re not going to like it, but as your manager I’m not really going to let you not try it.”

Oliver raised his eyebrow. “You want me to stop by my parents while I’m in town?”

“As your best friend, I recommend you see you parents more often. As your manager, I need you to work on your public image.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes, grabbing the remote from his side to turn the television off. “We’ve been over this. There is nothing wrong with my image.”

“If I were to Google you right now, do you know what the five top things are pop up?”

“How to get abs like Oliver Queen—“

“I would be happy with that, Oliver. That would be an improvement.”

“I thought the rocker bad boy was the goal.”

“It was for the managers before me, and maybe it even worked at first. But Ollie, you are going to crash. And when you do you are going to lose everything. You need to cut back on the drinking, stop going out and getting into fights. Keep the bad boy image if you like it, but lose the attitude. You’re a musician, you’re supposed to be known for your music, not your behavior.”

“I don’t know what you want, Tommy. I’m a rock star. Rock stars aren’t exactly known for their quite life style of staying home and knitting.”

“I’m not planning on giving you a lobotomy, Oliver. I just want you to be open to having your fans see the real you.”

“They do see the real me, and they will continue to see the real me every single night for the rest of this tour.”

“Do you really think that this… this is really you?”

“Is this the part where you tell me you know me better than I know myself?”

“This is the part where I’m praying that I do.” Tommy sighed, bringing his fingers up to the side of his head slowly starting to rub circles against it. “I’m not going to argue with you, Oliver. You aren’t going to believe me, that’s fine. It’s why I’m hoping you’ll see figure it yourself.”

Oliver scoffed. “Yeah? How are you going to do that?”

Tommy was about to answer when the door to the bus opened and John and Felicity walked in. 

“No girls on the bus, Digg. You know that.” Oliver’s response is flippant and almost aggressive. Tommy closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. That wasn’t exactly how he wanted Felicity’s first interaction with Oliver to go.

“Ollie, meet Felicity Smoak. She’s going to be filming a documentary of you.”

Felicity raised her hand slightly, before awkwardly putting it back down to her side. Oliver wasn’t sure whether he should start yelling or laughing, because there was no way Tommy was serious. He hadn’t paid Felicity much attention when she first walked in, but he knew Tommy had to be kidding with this. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail, the glasses she wore were awkwardly shaped for her face, her lips were stained a too bright shade of pink. She looked like she should be teaching kindergarten with her pink cardigan and shapeless pants, not traveling with a musician. He almost wanted to laugh as he brought his eyes back to Tommy, instead cursing under his breath when he realized Tommy wasn’t joking. 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me, man.” Oliver raised his eyebrow, looking over at Felicity as she passed the strap of her duffel bag between her hands. There was no way that girl was going to be able to last more than a week on the bus.

“The world needs to see the real you. And what better way than through a video?”

“Then let’s post some videos on Facebook. We don’t need some wannabe groupie trying to use some probably overhyped skill to tag along.”

“Excuse me?” Felicity’s voice came out sharp and icy. 

Oliver ignored her, continuing on with his conversation with Tommy as if she hadn’t spoken. “I mean, she’s kind of cute, but surely you could have grabbed someone a little hotter.”

“Felicity is the sister of one of my fraternity brothers. She will be filming you for the foreseeable future. I recommend apologizing to her. She has complete freedom over what she puts on film. I would actually recommend kissing her ass.” Tommy turned his head to look at Felicity. “You were a little earlier than I expected. Your bunk is the third one down. I’m going to go lie down. You two… get to know each other.”

Tommy stood up, he heard John following behind him. “You sure about this,” John asked quietly as Tommy got into his bunk. 

“I’m not, but something has to get through to him.” 

John didn’t say anything, he simply nodded before heading down to his area.

Felicity closed her eyes, slowly breathing in and out. She wasn’t quite sure what she had been expecting Oliver’s reaction to be, because it’s not as if she actually knew anything about him, but him automatically assuming she was a groupie trying to make her way to him was not it. She looked down the middle of the bus to watch Tommy close the curtain surrounding the bunk. She hadn’t really thought of the logistics of living on a bus. That small little area would be the only sort of privacy she would have. Judging by Oliver’s first comment, she would be the only girl on the bus. She wasn’t sure if it was just going to be the four of them, or if the rest of the band was also on this bus, either way she would have no privacy. Nowhere to really run off if she needed to get away, even with a curtain closing her out, she doubted she would be able to block all of the sound out. Big break or not, she wasn’t sure this was the best idea.

“How do you guys shower?” Felicity cringed after her brain caught up to her mouth and she realized she voiced that thought out loud. She was surprised by Oliver’s laughter.

“We stay in a hotel every couple of days. In between, you’d be surprised how well some soap and a bottle of water will tide you over.”

“That’s only slightly reassuring.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Felicity didn’t say anything. Instead, she just stood, awkwardly staring at him, trying to make up her mind whether or not she was going to go through with this. 

“Listen, I am not a groupie. I am not a fan. If I could even be considered a fan of anything of yours, it would be feeling sorry for whoever the hell has to run your PR team. I am here because it’s a good move for my career. That’s it.”

Oliver sighed. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow. “Okay,” Oliver relented. “I did mean to. But seeing how we’re going to be living in pretty tight quarters for a while, how about we start over? I’m Oliver Queen.”

Oliver held his hand out. Felicity looked down between his face to his hand, trying hard not to bite her lip as she considered taking it. She did not need Oliver to have any insight into her thoughts, or her hesitations. A part of her wanted to turn around and walk out. Tommy would be able to find someone else. She could grovel at her boss’s feet to give her back her job. She could stay where she was. But she told Tommy she would do it. In the end, she was only going to be here for a small portion of her life. She was not going to run away from an amazing opportunity just because the subject was a rude, self-obsessed rock star, who really needed to lay off the vodka. 

So she smiled, taking the step forward and placing her hand in his. “Felicity.”

Oliver leaned back into the couch, letting her hand drop. “So, when do you start filming?”

“A couple of days. If this is going to seem natural, we’ll need to get used to being around each other. I don’t want you faking things for the camera.”

“You won’t have to worry about that. I’m not good at faking anything.”

“I really doubt that.”

Oliver tilted his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Felicity shook her head, grabbing on to the edge of the seat as she felt the bus start to move. “I think I’m going to go make myself at home.”

Oliver didn’t say anything as he watched Felicity walk away. He wasn’t lying to Tommy when he said she was cute. Tommy could hide behind the idea of him wanting the world to see who him for who he was, but Oliver knew this was Tommy’s last ditch effort to try and save him, and he expected that girl and her video camera to do it. Maybe it was time Oliver showed Tommy who he was once and for all. Besides, he could think of a thing or two he wouldn’t mind Felicity recording. 

He listened from the couch as Felicity grunted and sighed, he was pretty sure she was trying to change in her bunk. He had to fight back the laughter as she walked back in front of him, pants unbuttoned, glasses off, and a very, very pissed off expression. 

“Please tell me there is somewhere that I can change while standing up.” Her eyes were closed, the words coming out in a rush. 

“Right there works.”

Felicity’s eyes opened, glaring at him. “Are you serious?”

Oliver shrugged. “Trust me there’s nothing under there that would surprise me.”

“That’s hardly the point. We’ve known each other for what, fifteen minutes? You could offer to leave the room. You don’t need to be such an ass.”

Oliver smirked. “Most girls find it charming.”

“Guess I’m not most girls.”

Oliver stood up, walking toward Felicity. “Your loss,” he whispered, leaning in closer to her than necessary. He smiled at her glare and continued on toward the room at the back of the bus. He was pretty sure she was still glaring at him when he closed the door.

Felicity waited five minutes to make sure Oliver was serious about leaving the room before she slipped out of the jeans and into a pair of yoga pants. She made her way back to the bunk and slipped in. She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the bus traveling down the highway. She wasn’t sure she would be able to get used to not having any privacy, not being able to shower, not being able to change without having to worry about someone walking in on her—but she wasn’t going to give in. She saw that look Oliver gave her when he made her uncomfortable. He was doing this on purpose, and she would be damned if she let him win.


	2. Chapter 2

Felicity pushed up on to the tips of her toes for the fifth time. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t quite tall enough to attach the small camera to the side of the cabinet. She lowered her feet until they were flat on the ground again, sighing. She knew it wasn’t very likely that she was going to be able to miraculously attach the camera at the just right angle the first time anyway, but after spending the last five days on a bus with nothing but guys, she was finding that she was more likely to make an ass out of herself before even asking for help. She sat the camera down on the counter, looking around the bus to see if anything could be used to boost her height slightly. If she could stand on her toes on the object, she would only need a couple of more inches. 

Another downside to a tour bus was that everything was firmly attached to where it was located, which she realized made sense in a logical way, but it really made things difficult for her. She picked the camera up from the counter before she climbed on to one of the seats, trying to find her balance on the arm rest. She smiled slightly as she leaned forward and managed to reach the part of the cabinet she wanted. She glanced down at the laptop that the camera was linked to, moving the camera around at different angles trying to find the best one. She wasn’t sure how she managed to lose her balance exactly, or where Oliver came from, but the next thing she knew she was no longer balancing and before she could brace herself for the fall, Oliver’s arms were wrapped around her and placing her on her feet. 

Felicity ran her hand around slightly along his back before it clicked in her brain that she was rubbing Oliver Queen’s back, his very shirtless back. She moved her hands away, using them instead to untangle his arms from her. She smiled, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “Don’t you ever wear a shirt,” Felicity asked, cringing as soon as the words were out of her mouth. 

Oliver raised his eyebrow. “I’ll make sure to take the time to put on clothing the next time I’m saving your life.”

“Saving my life,” Felicity questioned, rolling her eyes. “It’s like what eight inches from the ground? I think I would have survived.”

“Are you always this bitchy in the morning?”

“Morning?” Felicity tilted her head, “Oliver it’s three in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, morning.” Oliver’s lips curled up. “Some of us do fun things at night.”

“Some of us have real jobs.”

“Says the girl who is attempting to hang up a video camera on a tour bus.”

Felicity nodded, accepting his point. “Old habits I guess.” She gave him a tight lipped smile before she placed her foot back on the chair, getting ready to try to hang the camera up again.

“You want some help,” Oliver asked, placing one of his hands on her hip, trying to steady her.

Felicity’s breath caught. She wasn’t quite used to the Oliver Queen that sometimes existed in the morning. It was one of the first things she had noticed since she joined him; Oliver could be nice in the morning. It never lasted long, and it was only something that seemed to happen in a haze, almost as if he wasn’t even aware that he was doing it. She wasn’t exactly positive that it was a feature he was capable of later on in the day, but it was definitely not something she had seen. 

“Hello? Earth to Felicity?” 

Oliver’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She smiled down at him before replying, “Yeah?”

“Do you want me to do that?”

“Oh, yeah, actually that would be great.”

He moved his hand from her hip to her hand, helping her down. “Where do you want it,” he asked, grabbing the camera from her other hand. 

“Right around there,” she said, pointing to the cabinet. “I’m not sure where exactly. I was going to try to move the camera around and just look and hope I could find a good angle.”

Oliver laughed. “Very professional.” He placed the camera where he thought she was holding it before she fell. “How about here?”

He watched as she looked at the laptop and began ordering him around: a little higher, a little to the left, a little lower, no wait a little higher. “Perfect,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Oliver smiled slightly, securing the camera where it was.

“Just that one,” he asked, wiping his hands across his jeans.

“No, I have a couple more already set up, that one was the only one that gave me so much trouble. Thanks for that.”

“Yeah.” 

Felicity stared at him, waiting for him to say something. She still felt awkward around Oliver, never really knowing what his thoughts were or how he would react to something she said. Sometimes he was nice, someone she could actually see herself getting along with. Other times, he was the Oliver Queen that the tabloids loved: drunk, womanizing, and someone Felicity couldn’t stand. 

“Well, we’re staying in the next city for a day or two, so that should give you some time to get this place all buggy.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it’s actually considered bugging if you know where the cameras are.”

Oliver shrugged, he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and a bottle of medicine out of one of the cupboards. He didn’t look back at her as he walked back to his room. Felicity sighed, leaning against the table. She had to start figuring out what exactly she was going to do for this documentary. She had put off filming anything for a couple more days, telling Tommy that she needed more time to get Oliver comfortable around her. But the truth was, she had no idea what she was doing. She had no focus, no plot; she had nothing. She knew Tommy wanted a behind the scenes, but the truth was that behind the scenes Oliver was a drunk who spent all of his time on the bus locked away in his room. If Felicity was going to get anything for this documentary, she was going to have to find a way to get close to him. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to do that. 

She turned her head and watched as Tommy started getting out of his bunk, he smiled when he saw her. “Almost there,” he asked, stretching his arms out.

“Yeah, I think we have another hour or so.”

“Awesome.” He sat down on the seat behind the table she was leaned against. She pushed herself off the table to take the seat across from him.

“I don’t know how you guys do this staying up all night thing,” she started saying, “I’ve been up since 10. Do you have any idea how lonely a bus is for five hours when you are the only one awake?”

Tommy laughed. “You’ll get used to the schedule.” He picked up the deck of cards that was on the table, raising his eyebrows out her. She nodded and watched as he started pulling the cards out. “You start filming today, yeah?” 

Felicity looked down, watching as the cards came to land in a pile in front of her. She picked them up, beginning to organize them. “Yeah. I think I’m going to start with some far away shots, stuff from the concerts, maybe him walking around or getting ready. I’m thinking about interviewing Laurel and Roy, probably you and Digg too. Maybe Barry too, get more of a new comer’s opinion. Some background perceptive.”

Tommy laid down two cards, grabbing two more from the pile. “You still haven’t figured out your angle, have you?”

She knew it wasn’t a very solid plan. Due to the separate bus, something she was pretty curious about, she really hadn’t had a chance to get to know the other members. She’d had a few conversations with Laurel, the bassist, and she seemed nice enough. She did have the benefit of being a woman, which Felicity was positive she would end up desperate for some time with someone of the same sex eventually. Roy was someone she found, even with their limited talks that she could easily talk to. He was a great drummer, very passionate and full of energy. Barry was the brains behind the lights and the sound mixing. She had seen him around the shows and said hi once or twice, but she didn’t know much of anything about him. Their conversations never lasted long enough to get a grasp of his personality, or to figure out how he fit into the group. She knew that Oliver grew up with Laurel, and that Roy had been dating Oliver’s little sister when the band’s first album came out. But Barry wasn’t someone that got mentioned on a lot of the gossip sites, or on the Wikipedia page for Green Arrow; he was someone she was going to have to get to know personally for any sort of background. 

Felicity sighed pushing the thoughts from her head and choosing to ignore his question for the moment focusing instead on her cards. She laid three cards down on the table before grabbing three from the pile. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her face neutral. Her original hand was better. She looked up at him, he was trying to bite back his smile; he definitely had the upper hand. She sighed, placing the cards down on the table. “I’m terrible at this game.”

“Card game skills are yet another life benefit you will gain on this tour.” Tommy raised his eyebrows as he placed his cards down, clapping slightly as he looked over his win. “You’ll also probably get better at changing the subject to avoid questions you don’t want to answer.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Doubtful.” She grabbed the cards and began shuffling them. “Different game maybe? Go Fish? I bet I could kick your ass at Go Fish.”

Tommy placed his hands behind his head, leaning back slightly. “What’s your angle?”

Felicity placed the cards down. “It’s been, what, almost a week, Tommy? I still have no idea who Oliver is as a person. The closest I’ve come to witnessing a version of Oliver that I couldn’t have pulled out of a tabloid is occasionally for five or ten minutes in the morning when he is a somewhat decent guy. I don’t want to waste my time making a documentary that can be told through pictures, but he won’t let me get near him. I have a feeling that’s a thing he does.”

“Seems like you are figuring him out.”

Felicity huffed. “Yeah, I think it might take being trapped in a room with him for a few days to actually figure him out.” She rolled her head to the side. “I don’t know. I’ll interview you guys, see who you think he is, who he was. Maybe it’ll help trigger something.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah. Maybe.” He grabbed the cards from her. “You might have to explain the rules to me. It’s been awhile since I’ve played a game meant for toddlers.”

Felicity laughed. “Yeah. Okay. I think I can do that.”

After a few hands of Go Fish, Oliver and Diggle both joined them. Felicity smiled at John as she scooted over to the next seat so he could sit down. She watched as Tommy mimicked her movements for Oliver.

“You guys are really playing Go Fish?” Oliver asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

Felicity laughed. “Oh, not only are we playing it. I am kicking Tommy’s ass.” 

Tommy lowered her head. “It’s like she is psychic man.”

“I told you I had mad skills,” Felicity waggled her eyebrows at Tommy, smiling over at Oliver. “Want to join?”

Oliver rolled his eyes, huffing out a breath. “We were supposed to be there 20 minutes ago,” he said, ignoring Felicity’s question.

Felicity looked at him confused, he was just as capable as they were of looking out of one of the bus’s windows to see that they were in traffic. She raised her eyebrow at Tommy before replying, “Did no one ever explain to you the rules of traffic?”

Oliver glared at her. “I see your social skills rank about as high as your choice in card games.”

Felicity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, my social skills are definitely the ones in need of some work,” Felicity muttered pointedly. She wasn’t sure how Oliver managed to go from a decent human to complete jerk in a little over an hour, but she wasn’t about to get into it with him. 

She glanced down at her cards, before grabbing the ones in front of Tommy to put away. “Thanks for letting me kick your ass,” She said smiling. She stood up, scooting behind John. “I’m going to go attempt change my clothes in my bed. We’re staying in a hotel tonight, yeah?”

Tommy nodded. “A warm shower, you’ll be amazed at how much more you’ll appreciate it.”

Felicity laughed. “Trust me. After a week of bathing with water bottles, I think I might appreciate a cold shower.” She cringed slightly at her choice of words, but mostly at the way Oliver’s lips ticked upward slightly. “Yeah, I’m just going to go now.”

She could hear the three of them laughing until she placed her headphones in her ears, effectively drowning them out. She glanced down at her duffel bag, groaning at the options she was left with. She wasn’t actually sure anything in the bag was anywhere near remotely clean. Tommy promised that they wouldn’t go this long without an overnight stay somewhere again, but Felicity was still planning on grabbing some to-go cleaners. 

She looked out of the tiny window, smiling hopefully at the sun. She had quickly learned that while the end of September might still be shorts and flip-flop weather in Starling, it definitely was more of a jeans and sweater time of the year in cities further north. She grabbed a sweatshirt that was at the bottom of the bag, pulling it on as the bus slowly rolled to a stop. She gathered the small amount of things she had scattered around the bed, throwing them into the bag before she spotted the notebook that had her list of interview questions for the band written in it under her pillow. She picked it up and stared at it as she lay back down against the mattress. It only had four questions written down, not nearly enough for her unplanned, but hopefully going to happen, interview, but she wasn’t too worried about actually convincing any of them to agree to it. They had all in some sort of way hinted that at the very list they were expecting it. Still, she didn’t want to step on their toes, and she could tell that Oliver was a sore subject for them.

She wasn’t sure how any of this really worked. She wasn’t a huge fan of the band before the tour, but she had no idea how bad things were between everyone off stage. Laurel, Roy, and Barry didn’t make any sort of contact with Oliver unless it was necessary. Hell, they were on a separate bus. There was a story there, maybe not one that could ever be included in this documentary, but she was certain that it was one that might help her crack away at Oliver’s façade, even just a little bit. 

She wasn’t sure that the questions in her hand were going to do her any good. She didn’t want them to feel like they were being interviewed, she wasn’t a talk show host. She was there to make a movie, to show the world the real Oliver Queen, whoever in the hell that might be. She sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. She was just going to have to wing the questions, maybe even the whole thing.

She didn’t hear the sound of Tommy pulling the bunk’s divider back over the music in her ears, but she did feel him staring at her. She smiled at him, pulling at the earphones with one hand as she used the other to grab the key card that he was holding out to her.

“You have no idea how happy I am with the idea of a night’s sleep without listening to you snore Merlyn,” Felicity said with a smile.

Tommy held his hand up to his heart, faking pain. “You wound me,” he laughed. “If you find that you need the snoring to fall asleep, and I’ve heard worse excuses. I’ll be right down the hall.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “You so need to get out more. That was horrible flirting,” Felicity smiled at him. “Besides, I totally recorded it for future blackmail.”

Tommy laughed. “Is it really that bad?”

“Maybe,” Felicity shrugged. “Maybe not. Guess you’ll never know.”

“There are two other people on this bus you know.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow. “But can you really trust them?”

Tommy shook his head. “I probably don’t want to use them lying to me about snoring as the test. You need help getting your stuff inside?”

“I’ve got it. I didn’t bring much.”

Tommy nodded and Felicity smiled at him as he walked away. She grabbed the bag that was at the edge of the bed before heading off the bus. She pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt down, glad that she threw it on as she walked over to the other side of the bus where John was already unloading his stuff. She spotted her larger bag behind the one he was pulling out.

“Want me to grab that,” Digg asked, as he sat the bag down.

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure.” He pulled her bag out, handing it to her.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He smiled at her briefly before he walked away. Felicity shifted the weight of the smaller bag slightly as she started walking in the same direction, not paying attention as she went around the bus and almost running into Roy.

“Whoa there blondie,” Roy exclaimed, reaching out to help steady her. “You know, I thought those glasses were supposed to help you see.”

Felicity glared at him. “Haha.”

Roy smiled. “Somebody seems a little testy.”

Laurel walked over, shaking her head. “C’mon Roy, give the girl a break. She’s stuck on the bus with Oliver. She has every right to be grumpy.”

“And no shower for like a week,” Felicity threw in. 

“Nobody has got to shower in a week,” Roy pointed out.

“True. But you only share your bus with Barry and Laurel who seriously still smells good, which isn’t even fair by the way.”

Laurel laughed. “We can trade secrets tonight.”

“Tonight,” Felicity asked.

“If you are up for it, we were planning on vegging out in one of the rooms.”

“I’m totally up for it,” Felicity smiled. “I’ll even get pizza if it means I can bug you guys with some questions.”

“If they have anything to do with Oliver, you might need to get wine as well.”

Felicity grinned. “I thought that was a given.”

“You had me at pizza,” Roy added. “What about you Barry,” he asked, raising his voice so Barry could hear him.

“What about me, what?” Barry asked, jogging over to stand next to Laurel.

“Felicity is exploiting our offer to veg as a way to get answers about Oliver.”

Barry laughed at Roy. “Exploiting huh?”

“She is offering pizza and wine.”

“I’m in if I get to pick the movie.”

“No.” Roy and Laurel answered at the same time.

Felicity raised her eyes, shooting Barry a questioning look.

Barry sighed. “I might have made some bad decisions in the past.”

“Some,” Laurel asked, laughing. “We had a bet going for three months on if you would succeed in picking a worse movie. Three months Barry.”

Barry tilted his head, conceding. “Okay. Fine. I’ll leave the movie choices to Felicity, I suppose she is the expert.”

“Oh no. Don’t let the fancy degree fool you. I have a sincere love for crappy movies.”

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Laurel responded. “I’m in 401, meet up at like six?” 

“Yeah, sounds good.”


	3. Chapter 3

“You sure you guys don’t mind,” Felicity asked, fidgeting with the zoom on the camera to try to capture the entire space. She bit the bottom of her lip, as she moved back and forth before sighing and deciding that it would just have to work.

“We don’t have a show tonight, I would say we have the time,” Roy said. “Besides, you bought pizza. Not even a week in on this tour, and you have already figured out my weakness.”

Felicity laughed, taking a seat across from him and next to Laurel. “Well, it sort of helps when the third sentence out of your mouth was about how you could be bribed with pizza.”

Roy smiled, raising his eyebrows. “I like a girl that can listen.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Is Barry still coming?”

“Oh yeah,” Roy answered. “Barry is never on time, ever. You get used to it. If you need him somewhere at a specific time, it’s best to tell him to be at least half an hour early.”

“Oh,” Felicity replied, tucking the information away for future use. 

“So how does this work,” Laurel asked. “Do you just ask questions and we answer? Do we just start talking and wait for Oliver to come up naturally? Do we tell stories?”

Felicity shrugged. “That’s completely up to you guys. Honestly, I’m not sure if any of this will make the final cut. I just need something to start with. If I were to only record Oliver, the film would be nothing but closed doors and him singing. I need to figure him out, and, well, you guys have known each other forever. I’m really just using you.”

Laurel laughed. “You have a way with words, anyone ever tell you that?”

“All the time.”

“Oliver’s not giving you much?” 

“A lot of attitude.” Felicity sighed. “Honestly, I don’t see much of him. He really is just locked away in that back room, and when I do see him he’s sort of just a jerk. I’ve seen maybe a glimpse here and there of someone who isn’t just an asshole. Tommy seems convinced that Oliver is more than that, and I want to see that, I mean I feel like I’m letting Tommy down, but… I just I’m not sure if it’s really there.”

Laurel nodded. “Tommy is pretty blind to the Oliver of today, but to be fair Oliver is different around Tommy. It’s everybody else he could care less about.”

“What makes Tommy such a special snowflake? You guys have all known each other for just about the same amount of time, right?”

“Well, Roy didn’t come around until after Oliver and I broke up. He replaced our old drummer after the first album. He and Oliver got along decently at first, but then he walked in on Roy making out with his sister after one of the shows. So he’s kind of been screwed since then.”

“Lady speaks the truth. Thea and I have been together since she was eighteen, and trust me when I tell you, Oliver still isn’t over it.”

Felicity drug her bottom lip through her teeth as she pulled her legs up to her chest. “So he cares about his sister.”

“They are really close,” Laurel answered. 

“What about you,” Felicity started. “I mean, you guys were close.”

“I met Oliver when I was eight. He and Tommy were already best friends. Tommy threw a marker at me during art. It hit me on the head and I just started bawling. I was new to the school, it was only like my second or third day there, and I just couldn’t stop crying. Oliver made him apologize in front of everyone. Tommy was so angry at him; he just started stomping his feet and got all red in the face. But Oliver just stared at him and after about five agonizing minutes, Tommy apologized. He asked if I wanted to help them finish their painting. I sort of just ended up stuck with them after that.” 

“So he was a good kid?”

“Great kid. He was a great guy, honestly. Before all of this,” Laurel waved her hand around the hotel room. “Before all of this Ollie was sort of wonderful.”

“You guys dated right,” Felicity asked cautiously, she wasn’t trying to bring up bad memories for Laurel. 

“We did.” Raising her eyebrows, Laurel finished off the wine that was in her glass before continuing. “For a while actually. Most of high school and the beginning of being signed and making it. Before the drinking, womanizing version of Oliver became the one the public loved.”

“And he was different before?”

“He has always been a bit of a selfish ass, but, yeah, he was different before. He was faithful. If you were someone he cared about he would defend you, stand by you… he cared about more than himself. He didn’t drink as much, he wasn’t as angry at the world… I mean, he was angry, but it was more focused. He shared his anger.” Laurel shook her head, closing her eyes. “But now, Oliver doesn’t care about anything but himself.”

“With the exception of Tommy and Thea?”

Laurel lifted her eyebrow, smiling sadly. “Maybe it really is just me then.”

Felicity didn’t say anything as Laurel stood up and started walking over to wine. She glance up at Roy worried that she had gone too far. Roy shook his head, mouthing ‘you’re fine’ to her. 

“You want some,” Laurel asked as she finished pouring her glass.

“Yeah,” Felicity responded, more on autopilot than actual thought. “I’m not trying to make this awkward Laurel. If you don’t want to talk about this I completely get it. We can stop recording, I’ll stop asking questions, and we can just wait for the pizza and watch movies. You can share those how to smell good without showering tips.”

Laurel laughed and handed Felicity her glass before sitting back down. “You’re fine, really. I wouldn’t answer anything I wasn’t okay with. I guess… I just feel a lot of guilt over everything with Oliver. I was so angry with him for the longest time because of how he treated me. And then I was angry over who he keeps forcing himself to be. But I’m also angry at myself, I made it easy for him. I didn’t stand up for myself when he first started cheating on me, I just sort of let it go. I figured it was just something I was going to have to get used to. That it was just what happened once your boyfriend supposedly becomes one of the ten hottest rock stars. Maybe if I had started with the freaking out and ultimatums at the beginning and not at the end, it would have played out differently. Maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“You aren’t responsible for his actions.”

“I know that. But before we started dating, Ollie and I were really good friends. I know things between us could never go back to the way things were, and, honestly, I wouldn’t want them to, but I miss him. I miss my friend, and sometimes I can still see who he used to be, and a part of me wants to cling to that. So I guess, I get where Tommy is coming from, why he can’t let go of him.”

“I wish I knew who that was. I catch glimpses every now and then, where I feel like maybe there is more to him than what meets the eye. But just as fast as I catch that moment, it feels like he works twice as hard to follow it up with him being an ass,” Felicity paused, swirling the wine in her glass. “I’m not sure how to get there either. He isn’t exactly forthcoming with information. He keeps me at a distance.”

“You’ll get there.”

“You seem pretty sure of that.”

“I may not know you very well yet, but I know Oliver and I know Tommy. You’ll get through to him. You might need patience levels that would rival a god, but you’ll get there.”

Felicity smiled at Laurel as she got up to turn off the video camera. “That seems like enough of the heavy stuff. The pizza should be here—“

Felicity’s sentence was cut off by the phone ringing. “Now apparently,” she finished as Laurel answered the phone, telling the front desk to send the delivery person up.

“How is it even possible that the pizza got here before Barry?”

Shaking his head, Roy laughed. “We weren’t kidding about him being late.”

“I sent him a text a couple minutes ago,” Laurel started as she made her way over to them. “He should be up here soon.”

“So Roy, no good memories of Oliver from you?”

“No, I have a ton of decent memories of the guy. None have been directed at me necessarily, but he really loves Thea. He tries for her.”

“Favorite one?”

“Maybe six months ago? It was right before Christmas, I went with Thea to her family’s place in some rich skiing city and—“

Roy’s sentence was cut off by someone knocking on the door. “Five bucks its pizza, not Barry.”

Laurel pushed her lips out in thought before responding, “You’re on.”

Felicity shook her head at the two of them as she answered the door. She smiled at Barry who was holding up the pizza with a small smile on his face. “Sorry I’m late. Oliver didn’t like anything about the lighting. I kept trying to tell him that it would be a completely different set up tomorrow, and that I couldn’t do anything about the lights tonight… but you guys know Oliver.” He walked past Felicity, placing the pizza next to the wine. “I saw the pizza guy on the way up, figured I’d save you guys from the risk of him recognizing you. I know it doesn’t happen often, but he was talking about the concert tonight, and well, you never know.” His eyebrows drew together as he looked over at Roy and Laurel, who were staring at each other. “What’s going on with them,” he asked, glancing over at Felicity.

“I think they are trying to figure out who won the bet.”

“Oh, me or the pizza guy? They have got to stop betting. It’s still early on in the tour, so I’m guessing it was a low bet. But trust me, by the end of this thing it will be inches of hair and bridge jumping. No one benefits from it.”

“That’s not true,” Laurel said, not moving her eyes from Roy. “There was the time that Roy lost and had to sing karaoke when that opening band got sick on the last tour. That was great for everyone.”

“Not for me.” Roy grimaced, as he shook his head. “In fact, I’m not sure that was good for anyone other than you.”

“Thea seemed to think it was hilarious.”

“That’s because I’m dating someone who gets great joy out of seeing me uncomfortable.”

“And what does that say about you?”

Roy raised his eyebrow. “You really wanna go down that path princess?”

Laurel groaned. “Don’t call me that. We need a bet breaker. I don’t like tied bets.”

“Or you could both just give me five bucks and call it a day,” Felicity chimed in, leaning back against the counter as she watched the two of them argue.

Roy and Laurel both laughed. “Not how this works, Felicity.” Roy threw her a quick smile. “Twenty bucks says Oliver will slur at least half of the words during tonight’s show.”

Laurel snorted as she shook her head no. “I don’t make bets I know I’m going to lose. Twenty bucks says Diggle will have to break up no more than three fights.”

“At least five.” Roy held out his hand for Laurel to grab on to. 

“You’re on.” They shook their hands down three times before dropping them.

“That was… sort of terrifying.” Felicity whispered to Barry, who only laughed as he opened up the pizza.

“Just wait. I’m not kidding, their wagers get outrageous.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“If you need a good side story for your documentary, I’d go with them.”

Felicity laughed as she turned around grabbing a piece of pizza. “If you two are done, you might want to grab some food before Barry and I eat it all.”

“What were you guys talking about before I got here,” Barry asked as he and Felicity moved over to the couch while Roy and Laurel moved toward the food.

“Oliver,” Laurel answered as he grabbed a plate. “Favorite memories, stories, why he’s such an ass now. You know, things to help Felicity out.”

Barry groaned. “I know your documentary is on him, but can we talk about anything else. I’m surprised Tommy hasn’t called you guys yet. Oliver was a nightmare down there.”

Laurel grimaced as her phone went off. “Seriously, Barry? You know better than to throw that curse around.” She sighed as she picked up the phone. “Yeah. Yep. On our way.” She placed her phone back on the counter, rolling her head to the side. “The show isn’t even until tomorrow. Why is he doing this already?”

“The venue has a bar. I think it might be the closest one to the hotel.”

“Ah,” Laurel raised her hand in a mock party hooray movement. “Makes perfect sense now.”

Roy shoved the last bite of his pizza into his mouth. “C’mon, grab some of that fancy video stuff, you’re about to see Oliver Queen in his prime diva stage. Pre-show.”

“You all have fun. I’ve already spent two hours with him. I’m not going back.”

Laurel shook her head, smiling sweetly at Barry. “Nice try. You jinxed us. You have to come.”

“That’s not—“

“Rules are rules.”

“There’s rules,” Felicity asked as she grabbed the small hand-held camera from the stand. “Can I get a copy of these rules?”

“You’ll pick them up,” Laurel said promisingly. “Come on, let’s go see how bad this really is.”

By the time they made it to the venue, it was a little past nine and the club part of the place was in full swing. Felicity looked down at her outfit, grimacing at the plain top and jeans she had thrown on. She smiled back at Laurel who bumped her shoulder slightly, smiling at her reassuringly. 

They made their way further into the club, each looking out for signs of Tommy or Oliver. The music was loud, bodies were moving against each other on the dance floor, and drinks seemed to be coming from every direction; Felicity felt slightly intoxicated from just being in the same area. She glanced over at Roy shrugging her shoulders as they continued walking toward the bar. Laurel pulled down on her hand, nodding toward a corner of the place that Tommy was leaning on.

Tommy flashed them a brief smile as they walked up to him. “I wasn’t expecting the whole Scooby gang when I called.”

“You call one, you get ‘em all,” Laurel started as she shrugged. “It’s a rule.”

“You in on these rules,” Tommy asked Felicity.

“I hear I’ll pick up on them.”

“Good.” Tommy nodded. “He found a girl to do body shots off of. So, he’s calmed down a bit. He’s over there.” Tommy pointed toward the front of the room, where Oliver’s face was hidden by dark hair as his tongue licked salt off of the girl’s neck. 

Felicity pulled out her camera, setting it up before looking over at Tommy as he sighed. “Problem?”

“Is that really necessary?”

“You said you wanted a documentary about the real Oliver Queen, Tommy. So far, that guy,” Felicity pointed to Oliver, “is the only Oliver Queen I’ve seen. I’m working with what I’ve got, okay?”

Tommy closed his eyes. “Yeah, okay. I might need a drink.”

Felicity tilted her head apologetically as he walked toward the bar. She turned the camera on, working on the zoom when she heard a new voice.

“Don’t mind him. You’re definitely going to want to record what’s about to happen.”

Felicity turned around, catching a brief glimpse of the girl before all she saw was Roy covering the girl.

“Thea,” Laurel mouthed from the side. Felicity nodded in understanding as Roy pulled away, his arm still wrapped around her side.

“I’m Felicity.” She held her hand out for the girl.

The girl took her hand, shaking it. “Thea. That,” Thea began, dropping Felicity’s hand and pointing to her brother. “is disgusting. No sister should have to see her brother doing that.”

“To be fair,” Barry interrupted, “he has no idea you are here. It’s also friendlier than the screaming match he was having with the manager when I left.”

“That’s not… that’s not helping.” Thea dropped her head on his Roy’s shoulder, closing her eyes. “Alright. I’m on this.” 

“Make sure that camera is on,” Roy said with a smile. “there’s nothing quite like watching Thea chew Oliver’s ass out.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow, pressing the record button. “It’s too loud in here to get audio.” 

Laurel laughed. “You won’t need it. Trust me.”

Felicity watched as Thea tapped her fingers against her brother’s shoulder, one hand on her hip. Oliver’s face went from being knotted in annoyance to one of shock in a matter of seconds as his brain processed who was standing there. The brown haired girl threw Thea a death glare, and while none of them could hear what she had said, Felicity imagined it wasn’t exactly the nicest thing as the girl took off without another word. 

Tommy walked back over to them, staring at where Thea was talking to Oliver. “Who called in back-up?”

“She’s taking the year off from school,” Roy answered. “She wants to tag along for the tour.”

Tommy raised his eyebrow. “That’s going to go over well.”

“She’s nineteen. It’s her choice. He doesn’t have much ground to get all judgmental about this stuff.” 

“He’s got a point,” Laurel noted.

“Still not going to like it.” Tommy shook his head. “Might be good to have her around though.”

“They are walking back over here,” Felicity pointed out. 

“You are not staying in the same bus as Roy,” Oliver’s tone was adamant, as he stopped moving to stand next to Tommy. “Back me up,” he asked Tommy as he crossed his arms.

“Staying out of this one; Thea can sleep wherever she wants. However, Felicity probably wouldn’t mind the company.”

Felicity tilted her head as she nodded, agreeing with Tommy. 

Thea smiled at her understandingly before she turned her gaze back to her brother. “Fine. I’ll stay on the bus with you guys. But I’m staying for the tour, Ollie. The whole damn thing. There will be no dropping me off at school, or calling mom and dad, or any other attempt to get me to go home.”

“Thea—“ 

“No. I’m staying.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is a little late. School has been a killer this quarter, and I just haven't had as much time to write. I really appreciate all of the reviews and kudos from you guys! I hope you like the chapter!

Felicity ran her hand along the nightstand next to the bed, trying to find her glasses. Rolling over she squinted her eyes barely able to read the bright red numbers on the clock: 3:17. The knocking on her door seemed to be getting louder and more desperate as she finally found her glasses. She slid them up her nose as she slid her legs out of bed. She made the quick few steps to the door before pulling it open.

"Oliver," she asked, raising her eyebrow. "What are you doing--" Felicity paused, closing her eyes as soon as the smell of him hit her. "Oh God. You smell."

Oliver laughed, stumbling forward as he barged into Felicity's room. "I think I missed the trash can," he started, "but I think it's only on my shirt." He glanced down at the piece of clothing before pulling it off and tossing it out the door, "There," he smiled at Felicity, "all better right?"

The silence that followed was awkward, Felicity's eyes went back and forth from the shirt in the hallway to a half-naked Oliver who was walking toward her bed. "What are you doing here? And where are your pants?"

"I lost the keys to my room."

Closing her eyes, Felicity took a deep breath before responding. "And my room just happened to be the room number you remembered?"

Shrugging, Oliver flopped down onto the bed. "I didn't think Laurel would answer, Thea wasn’t in her room, which means she’s in Roy’s room, and I didn’t think anyone would want me to go into that situation willingly.”

“What about Tommy?”

“I don’t want to let Tommy down again. So, that left you."

Running her hand through her hair, Felicity shut the door choosing to ignore the shirt that was out there. “You could just go to the front desk and get your room key.”

“Your room was closer.”

"You need to take a shower. I think I have a pair of sweats that might sort of fit you."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You are literally in your boxers Oliver. That doesn't even count as clothing."

Turning his head to face her, Oliver's lips turned up into a smile. "Just evening out the playing field Felicity."

Heat flooded Felicity's face as she looked down and focused on the fact that she was only wearing a sweatshirt over her underwear. "Oh God," she muttered as she walked around the bed to grab her pants, pulling them on. "Now, I'm going to go get you another room key. You are going to get in the shower. I'll leave the sweat pants out for you. You will put these on Oliver, or I swear I will lock you out of this room with you naked. Do you understand?"

"You're bossy," Oliver muttered as he sat up. "I like it. People always give me what I want, or get sick of me."

"Yeah, well, my job is to figure out the real you, and I don't think I have yet. You’re kind of stuck with me Queen, I don’t give up easily.”

“I’m sure I’ll find a way. It’s my second best talent.”

Felicity’s heart clenched at the dejected tone of Oliver’s voice. “Maybe I’ll surprise you. I might be just a little bit stubborn."

"That your way of telling me that you're sticking around for a while?"

"That's my way of telling you to shower before I decide leaving you outside was a good idea."

Shaking his head, Oliver laughed as he made his way into the bathroom. Felicity sighed as she waited for the water to start running before she started looking around the room for something to put Oliver's shirt in. Pressing her fingers into the side of her temple, she grabbed one of the laundry bags from the closet glancing over the instructions before looking around for a pen to fill in the information. 

Opening the door she grabbed the shirt, curling her nose as she tossed it into the bag and tying it. She shut the door as she dropped the bag down and started heading toward the elevator. She pressed the down button repeatedly waiting for the door to open. She stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the main floor. She leaned her head back against the wall and as she tried to figure out what she was going to say to the person behind the front desk. Felicity heard the doors open as she closed her eyes at the realization that there was no way the person was going to give her the key to Oliver Queen’s room.

She made her way across the lobby, smiling at the middle-aged man behind the counter. 

“What can I help you with,” The man asked as he looked up from the computer.

“I’m staying in room 307, and I’m sure you can look this up to verify it, but I’m here with Oliver Queen and all of his… well his, people? Anyway, he locked himself out of his room and he’s currently taking a shower in mine, but I would like this to not be a sleep over awkward morning type thing, you know? Which means I need you to give me a key to his room.”

The man stared at Felicity, shaking his head. “That is the worst story I’ve heard all night lady.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

“Right. And I’m the Easter bunny. Get out of here.”

“Sir--"

“Look, either leave right now and maybe try your luck at finding him walking around somewhere, or I’m calling security and they will escort you from the hotel. Your choice.”

Felicity pursed her lips together. “Yeah. My choice.” She sighed holding her hands up as she walked back to the elevator. She pressed two fingers against the side of her head as she waited for the elevator to come down. She bit the bottom of her lip as she walked into the elevator. The ride back to her room seemed to take twice as long. She smiled at the person who followed her into the elevator, remaining silent until the elevator reached her floor. 

She stood outside of the hotel room door, rolling her head as she tried to decide what she wanted to do. She knew she could try to get Tommy to wake up and deal with this. She also knew that she currently felt more than capable of handling him. She might even be able to use this as a way to start some sort of friendship with him; a way into his head. Assuming he wasn’t already passed out on the floor.

Felicity opened the door to her room, laughing almost immediately at the sight of Oliver laying on her bed on his stomach, her bright pink sweatpants stopping inches above his ankles. He rolled his head over to the side, narrowing his eyes.

“No luck getting your room key.” Felicity shrugged as she walked over to her bed, pulling the blanket down on her side before climbing in. She leaned her head back against the headboard before continuing. “Apparently, I’m not the first girl who claimed you were locked out of your room and that you couldn’t come down to the lobby because you were taking a shower. We need to work on our story if this is going to become a regular thing.”

“You can just stop answering your door if this becomes a regular thing.”

“Eh,” Felicity tilted her head. “If I stop answering the door, I’ll end up on missing out on the good stuff. Well, that’s how I think about life anyway. Pretty applicable here, if you ask me.”

Oliver laughed, groaning as he rolled over to lie on his back. “Bit optimistic.”

“A little optimism never hurts.”

“Seems like a good way to get your hopes up.”

“You think that’s a bad thing?”

“High hopes… good way to be let down.”

“Let downs happen. Life isn’t perfect Oliver, I don’t expect it to be. But I don’t expect it to always fail me either.”

“I don’t get the risk.”

“It makes it worth it. I mean, if you never fail, I don’t think succeeding is as worthwhile. The failure makes victory sweeter. Being let down hurts, sure, but when things finally go right… that’s worth it.”

“I don’t know about that. I think I’m enjoying my success just as well as I would have if I had failed a few times before.”

Felicity didn’t even try to hide the sound of her snorting as she shook her head. “Seriously? You showed up outside of my room shirtless because you threw up on your own shirt. You locked yourself out of your hotel room. You are wearing pink sweatpants that are about six inches too short for you that say juicy across your ass. I don’t know if I’d call this a great example of cherishing success.”

Oliver looked over at her, his eyes widening in surprise. “You don’t really hold back do you?”

“One of my quirks.”

“You got a lot of those?”

“One or two.”

“Thanks for…all of this,” Oliver’s voice dropped as he yawned in between words.

Felicity looked over at him, watching as his eyes drooped and his breathing evened out. She closed her eyes, wondering how in the hell she was going to deal with any of this in the morning. She sat her glasses down on the table before moving her body further down on the bed, resting her head on a pillow instead of the headboard. She glanced over at Oliver’s sleeping body one more time before rolling away from him and falling asleep.

Felicity groaned as she woke up, stretching her arms above her head. Her eyes shot up as her hand landed on something very skin like. She looked over at Oliver, grimacing as she remembered the events of the night before. She bit the bottom of her lip as she reached over to grab her glasses. She had expected to experience a lot of weird things when she agreed to Tommy’s plan, but waking up with Oliver Queen’s arm wrapped around her waist was not one of them. 

She moved her hands down to his arm, trying to lift it off of her. Oliver muttered something under his breath as he pulled himself closer to her side. “Fuck,” Felicity muttered as she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she tried to push aside the idea that Oliver looked pretty damn good on her pillow. She could think about that later, when he wasn’t in her bed and she was less likely to make a very bad decision based on hormones and really nice abs.

“Oliver,” she whispered, using her hand to push his shoulder slightly. “Oliver, seriously, roll over.” 

Oliver grumbled as buried his head further in the pillow before he rolled over, releasing Felicity from his grasp. Hopping out of the bed, Felicity walked straight for the bathroom, shutting the door behind her quickly. Splashing water on her face, Felicity glanced up at her reflection as she grabbed a towel to dry her face off. She placed her hands on the counter, leaning forward on them as she tried to brush the thoughts of how waking up next to Oliver felt. She was not going to be another girl that crushed on Oliver Queen just because he smelled nice and looked pretty decent in green leather. 

Opening the door to the bathroom, she stepped out walking over to a table to grab her phone and purse when she heard Oliver say her name. She turned around to look at him, her lips curving slightly as she saw the edge of her sweatpants as he stretched into a sitting position. “Morning.”

“You leaving,” he asked, his voice deep with sleep.

“Yeah. They stop serving breakfast in an hour.”

“You could just get back in bed.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t remember much of last night, but I figured you must of have been decent if I’m still in bed.”

Felicity raised her eyebrows, her mouth opening slightly as she stared at him. “You actually I think I slept with you?”

“Why else would I be here?”

“Because you locked yourself out of your room last night.”

“And I came here?”

“You were pretty convinced I was the only one that would answer the door.”

“Right.” Oliver rolled his eyes. “Most girls don’t hop on the denial train so quickly.”

Felicity held her hands up in defeat. “Believe whatever the hell you want. But you showed up here drunk last night. You took a shower. You passed out after thanking me. Your shirt should probably be dropped off shortly, I had them clean it. You can keep the sweatpants.” She dropped her hands, as she grabbed her things before walking out the door. 

Taking a deep breath, she leaned her head back against the door. She wasn’t sure if she was angrier at the idea of Oliver thinking that she slept with him last night or at herself for getting into the situation to begin with. Her phone dinged in her hand, lighting up to show a message from Laurel telling her to avoid the waffles and oranges at breakfast and asking where she was. Pushing off of the door, she walked the familiar steps to the elevator, her eyes fixed on her phone as she finished replying to Laurel that she was on her way down. 

“You look like hell, Smoak,” Felicity glanced up to see Tommy walking toward her, smile plastered on his face.

Felicity glared at him as he came to a stop in front of her. “Might have something to do with your best friend, who is in my room wearing my clothes because he puked all over his last night after he apparently locked himself out of his room. He didn’t want to bother you, so I was the lucky winner. He has himself convinced that we hooked up last night and that I’m just in denial about it. So, why don’t you go deal with that mess,” Felicity pointed her finger toward her room. “I’m going to get a bagel.” 

Tommy sighed as he glanced at the door. “Did he really—“

“Not talking about it,” Felicity interrupted Tommy, pressing her finger against the elevator button. “Bagel, remember?”

“A bagel is all you need to get over this situation?”

“A bagel is what I need to provide me enough energy to go to the venue and figure out a wiring and video plan for tonight. I’m going to need to see Oliver’s ego deflated about a hundred times to get over that.” Felicity sighed, rolling her eyes as she stepped into the elevator. “Or actually, consider me over it. Who actually gives a fuck what Oliver Queen thinks anyway.”

Tommy placed his hands behind his head as the elevator door closed, interlocking his fingers as he pushed back on his heels. Closing his eyes briefly, he made his way down the hall to Felicity’s room. He drummed his fingers against the door. “C’mon. Oliver. It’s Tommy. Open up.”

Running his hands over his eyes, he listened to the sounds of Oliver making his way to the door. He couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him when Oliver opened the door shirtless and wearing bright pink sweatpants. Oliver glared at him, moving to the side for Tommy to walk in. 

“I think I might have pissed Felicity off,” Oliver said with a shrug as he shut the door. 

“You think,” Tommy asked, rolling his eyes. “You accused her of sleeping with you.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Most girls want to sleep with me.”

“The fact that you actually believe that is disgusting, man.”

“It’s the truth.”

“No, the truth is that you are a dick who needs to do some serious apologizing.”

“She didn’t deny it.”

Tommy felt the all too familiar headache start to settle over his brain as he leaned back against the wall. “She shouldn’t have to deny anything, Oliver. Were you seriously so wasted last night that you don’t remember coming here?”

“I sort of remember maybe throwing up in the hallway. Everything else after that is sort of a blur. I mean, what was I supposed to think? I was half naked and cuddling with her when I woke up.”

“That maybe you had a shot of making a friend on this tour who wasn’t me?”

“Might have screwed that one up.”

“She’s a pretty forgiving person. Maybe if you talk to her as yourself and not as some egotistical rock star and apologize she’ll give you another chance.”

“What makes you think I want one?”

“I don’t think you want one; I think you need one. There’s a big difference there.”

“If I say I’ll try will you go get my room key so I don’t have to walk downstairs wearing this?”

“Nope. You’re a big boy. You own those sweatpants.”

“And I’m the ass in this friendship?”

“You’re just the bigger ass.”

Oliver laughed, shaking his head. “Thanks. Guess I better go head down.”

Tommy nodded his head absently, watching as Oliver opened the door. “Wait.”

Oliver turned around looking at him expectantly, shutting the door slowly. “What’s up?”

“I think maybe it’s time you cut back on the drinking.”

Oliver’s eyes widened, his nostrils flaring out slightly. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not saying you have a problem. But… man you don’t even remember what happened last night. How many nights are like that? I’m guessing more than one. Your sister saw you doing body shots off some random chick. You have been charged with assault three times in the last year for getting in fights.”

“It sure sounds like you are saying I have a problem.”

“Maybe you do. That’s for you to figure out. But as your manager I’m telling you, you can’t keep this up. The majority of the reviews for this tour so far at the very least mention how different you sound; how it doesn’t seem like you know the words to your own songs. And I know you do. I know how much those songs mean to you, Oliver. I know what this means to you. I’m just asking you to… take step a back. At least a little bit.”

Oliver stared at Tommy, not saying a word. His eyes hardened, his mouth opening slightly before forming a thin line across his face. Tommy sighed as he watched him turn around, leaving the room without saying another word.


	5. Chapter 5

“He actually said that,” Laurel asked as she grabbed the wire from Felicity’s hands, attaching it to the small box that was clipped to her jeans. 

“Word for word with added eye rolls on my part,” Felicity responded, glancing down at the tablet to check the microphone’s connection.

“He’s an ass.”

Felicity glanced up from her tablet, smiling slightly at Laurel before looking back down. “Can you adjust the tuner a little to the left?”

Laurel did as Felicity instructed. “That better?”

“Perfect.”

“Are we going to be hooked up to mics from now on?”

“Only at the venues, hopefully. There are enough cameras set up over the place to be able to get the footage, but there’s no way I’d be able to get decent sound quality other than when you guys were playing. So, mics. Sorry.”

“Not a big deal,” Laurel said with a shrug. “Now the whole world can know how ditzy I am in real life.”

“You aren’t ditzy.”

“You haven’t really seen me pre-show. I get jitters still.”

“There was a show a couple weeks ago where she made me cluck like a chicken while she tried to keep time to it. It was horrifying,” Roy spoke up from the corner of the room. 

“You said you wouldn’t tell anybody about that,” Laurel looked over at Roy rolling her eyes.

“I told Felicity. That isn’t just anybody. Besides, girl needs to know what she got herself into.”

“I promise to edit the film to make it look like those ideas were Roy’s.”

“I knew we would be fast friends, but I didn’t think it’d be this fast,” Laurel said with a smile.

“Do you know where Thea is,” Felicity asked Roy. “She’s the only one that isn’t hooked up yet.”

“She left the hotel a little bit ago. She should be here soon.” Roy shrugged, messing with the wire under his shirt. “Are these going to be on during the concert?”

Felicity shook her head. “No. I can turn them off and on from the tablet, see,” she asked, holding the tablet up. “Couple of swipes here and there controls them completely.”

“How do I know if they are on?”

Felicity smiled cheekily at him before responding. “You don’t. You’ll just have to be on your best behavior.”

“That’s going to be hard,” Thea’s voice had a hint of laughter to it as she walked into the room. “Even his best behavior is going to be bad on a normal scale.”

“That’s hurtful,” Roy said, placing his hand over his heart.

“I’ve never been the girlfriend to lie.”

“There you two are,” Barry said as he walked into the room. “I need you guys out on the stage for sound check. Oliver’s MIA and I need to test everything out.”

Roy groaned from the couch, standing up and stretching his arms forward. “Not singing.”

Laurel glared at him, following him out the door. “I did it last time. It’s your turn, Harper.”

Shaking her head, Thea laughed as she turned to look at Felicity. “Do you know where my brother is?”

“Last time I saw him he was in my bed.” Felicity cringed as the words left her mouth. “Not like in, in my bed. I mean, he was in my bed. But not because he was, you know, in my bed.” Sighing, she brushed a piece of hair out of her face. “I mean he was in my bed accusing me of sleeping with him, which I did not. I mean, I guess technically I did sleep next to him, but now you know, with, with him. And I’m just going to stop talking.”

Thea’s eyes widened as Felicity moved across the room to grab another microphone set. “You really do have a way with words.”

Shaking her head, Felicity held out the microphone for Thea. “Babbling Blonde with No Filter should have been my high school moniker.”

“Beats Spoiled Brat Who Only Graduated Because of Daddy’s Money.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, picking her tablet up off of a table. “Kids suck.”

“People suck,” Thea corrected, clipping the microphone into place. “Including my brother. I heard some of what you told Laurel. She’s right, he’s being an ass. Apparently that’s his thing these days.”

“I’m not convinced it hasn’t always been his thing.”

Thea tilted her head in agreement, her eyebrows lifting slightly. “To be fair, he was raised to take over as a CEO for a pretty decent sized company. Being nice wasn’t really high up on the list of qualities that our father thought he needed.”

“What were you raised to be?”

Thea laughed, but the smile that spread across her face was sad. “I don’t think I was really raised to be anything. I mean, I had to take etiquette classes, but, honestly, it wasn’t until my dad really realized that Oliver wasn’t following in his footsteps that he noticed me. And then it was all about his great big plan for me, the first woman to take over as CEO.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “He’s going to be so disappointed in me when he finds out.”

“You didn’t tell them you left?”

“No, I… I don’t really know how. I mean, I don’t even know if it’s a forever deal. I might go back. I just, I felt so stuck. I’m 19. I don’t know what I want to do for the rest of my life. And I really don’t care for being told what I’m going to do.”

Felicity smiled at her. “You’ll be fine. Sometimes parents are wrong. Your mics are good to go, by the way, if you want to go watch Roy make a fool out of himself.”

Thea’s grin spread across her face, her eyes gleaming. “It’s one of my favorite past times.” She walked over to the side door that led to the stage, she turned around briefly, raising her eyebrow. “You coming?”

Felicity shook her head. “No, I need to track down your brother.”

Thea grimaced. “Might try the bar.”

Felicity laughed as Thea left the room and picked up the remaining microphone from the table. She flipped it around in her hand for a minute, trying to decide whether it was worth looking for Oliver then, or waiting until after the show.

“You’re good with her.” 

Felicity turned around, finding Oliver leaning against the door. His arms were wrapped around his chest, and he had an unfamiliar smile pulling against his lips. He moved away from the door as he started walking into the room. 

“You might have been the first person to tell her it’s okay to not do what our parents want.”

“I doubt that. I’m sure she got the message loud and clear when you didn’t do what they wanted you to do.”

Oliver shrugged. “I’m sure she got the ‘here’s how you screw up the good life that was handed to you’ message, but never a ‘you could still be successful anyway’ message.”

“And here I was thinking you were the poster boy of success.”

“At selling records and making an ass out of myself maybe.”

“Well, everyone has their talents.”

Oliver laughed, shaking his head. “You really don’t--”

Felicity rolled her eyes, interrupting him. “Hold back?” She raised her eyebrow, her head shaking in disbelief. “We’ve had this conversation already. What are you doing here, Oliver?”

“Tommy said something about needing a mic,” Oliver started, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. If Felicity wasn’t completely convinced Oliver Queen was incapable of feeling awkward, she would swear that he was. “Look, about earlier, Felicity—“

Felicity let out a deep breath, stopping him from continuing. “We don’t have to talk about it,” she said, holding out the last microphone for him. He reached for it, wrapping his hand around her wrist.

“Yes, we do.” He took a deep breathing, shaking his head briefly before dropping her hand. “I shouldn’t have said any of that this morning. I remember some of what happened last night… and you, you were kind. And I haven’t done anything to deserve that from you. I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusions that I did.”

Felicity watched as he lifted his shirt up slightly to place the microphone beneath it. “Tommy talk to you” she asked.

“He did.”

“Well, I’ll make sure to tell him you apologized.”

“I’m not doing this for Tommy, Felicity.”

Snorting, Felicity ran her hands through her hair. “You’re not? I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Have you actually seen me do anything Tommy has suggested?” Oliver watched as Felicity pursed her lips, her head tilting in defeat. “This isn’t coming from Tommy. I think that maybe you and I could be friends. And as you’ve pointed out, I don’t have a lot of those.”

“I can think of one.”

“Well, I’m hoping to make it two.”

Felicity looked at him. He had placed his hands in his pocket after finishing placing his microphone, and kept shifting his weight. Forward, left, back, right, over and over again. It didn’t look natural on him, the way he was holding himself. She shook her head, maybe he meant it. “Okay.”

“Okay, we’re friends,” Oliver asked, surprise evident in his voice.

“No. Okay, you apologized and I believe you.” She glanced down at her tablet, switching all of the microphones off. “The show starts soon, you should go.”

“Right.” He looked over at her quizzically. “We don’t go on for two hours.”

“Like I said, soon.”

Oliver nodded, smiling at her briefly as he laughed quietly. He shook his head before turning around and heading toward the door.

Letting out a sigh as the door shut, Felicity ran her hands through her hair. She laughed slightly as she leaned back against the wall. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had come up with multiple scenarios that she envisioned she would have to deal with after agreeing to help Tommy. She imagined Oliver just ignoring her and pretending that she didn’t exist, Oliver attempting to do nothing but get down her pants, Oliver being exactly what the tabloids played him out to be. What she hadn’t expected was what she had found Oliver to be. Everything she had imagined in varying degrees. She wasn’t sure what was real with him. She wasn’t sure he knew what was real to him.

The sound of a guitar being strummed along with the muffled sound of cheering pulled Felicity from her thoughts. She shook her head as she pushed off of the wall and made her way out of the room and toward the exit. She smiled at John as he opened up the door for her. “Shouldn’t you be with Oliver?”

“He sort of disappeared after he went in to talk with you.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow. “Want me to turn his mic on? We can play detective and see if we can find him.”

John smiled at her, his eyes brightening. No. He’ll be alright. Not the first time he’s done this, it normally works out.”

“Normally?”

Shrugging his shoulders, John tilted his head. “About 75% of the time. The odds go down if I go searching for him. He doesn’t like feeling as if I am treating him like a child.”

“Maybe he shouldn’t act like a child then.”

John snorted, his smile growing. “Care to tell him that?”

“Every chance I get.”

“You should get going.” He nodded his head toward the crowd. “The opening acts are pretty good.”

“Thanks.” She smiled at him again before making her way toward the back of the bar signaling to the bartender for a bottle of water. He returned the smile, quickly making his way down the bar to take order. She sat down on the barstool swirling it around until she was facing the stage. The band was moving into its second song. It was calmer than the first, the drums not as loud, the singer sang the words softer. She moved her head along with the beat, watching the crowd’s reactions vary from disinterest to swaying along with the band. 

She had always found opening acts to be interesting. They weren’t typically the reason for people to come to the show, but they were enough entertainment to keep the crowd entertained and waiting for more. 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Felicity glanced up at Tommy as he sat down next to her. She rolled her eyes, sending him a disbelieving look. “A penny? My thoughts are worth at least a dime. I’ve got student loans to pay off you know.”

Tommy laughed. “Fair enough. I think I can spare a dime.”

“I was just thinking about the band. They’re good.”

“It was a tough pick. This city has a lot of good local music.”

Felicity untwisted the lid of her water, taking a drink before continuing the conversation. “All of the opening bands for the tour are local?”

“Yeah. They tried to run the first tour with bigger bands, but honestly, Oliver doesn’t work well with other egos. Plus, it gives these guys a break. Opening for Green Arrow can give them the boost they need to make it just a little bit longer.”

“Music biz is tough,” Felicity noted. “Glad I chose the safe career field of filmmaking.”

Tommy shook his head. “I’ll think you’ll be fine.”

“Maybe. I did get a pretty sweet gig to film a behind the scenes documentary of a pretty popular band. So, who knows, maybe it’s a sign I’ll make it after all.”

“It’s definitely a sign you’ll make it after all.”

Felicity smiled at him, focusing her attention back on the band and enjoying the comfortable silence that fell between them as the listened. Halfway through the second opening band’s set, Tommy stood up, stretching his arms behind his back.

“It’s almost show time,” he said. “You staying back here? I could probably get you up front. I know people.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, laughing. “I think I get up close and personal with Oliver Queen enough.” She flinched slightly at the verbiage she used. “You know what I mean.”

“Sure I do,” Tommy replied teasingly. “I did see him in your bed this morning.”

“Shouldn’t piss off the girl who is going to be sleeping across from you the next few months, Merlyn. It’s dangerous territory you’re stepping—hey, is that Laurel,” Felicity asked, squinting at the person moving toward them.

“We can’t find Oliver,” Laurel exclaimed as soon as she was sure no one else could overhear. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips set in a small line. “We’ve looked everywhere, Tommy. We are supposed to go on in twenty minutes.”

“That’s alright, we can find him. Has anyone checked with Digg?”

“I ran into him when I first came out here,” Felicity spoke up. “He said Oliver disappeared right after talking with me.”

“That was almost two hours ago.” Tommy’s face paled slightly, his eyes showing off the worry he was trying to keep out of his voice. 

“He’s probably here someplace.” Felicity smiled reassuringly at the two of them. “Did you have Roy check the bathrooms?”

Laurel shook her head. “I can text him though,” She she said puling out her phone. “This band only has a couple more songs, Tommy. I don’t know what you want us to do. Oliver’s never actually missed a show before.”

“Really,” Felicity asked, not bothering to keep the surprise out of her voice. “I sort of assumed this was a common occurrence.”

Tommy’s jaw ticked slightly. “No. Never. If he doesn’t show up soon… can Barry signal the band to get them to play a few more songs?”

“Maybe,” Laurel replied, her eyes glancing up briefly. “Texting him next. Maybe we should call a hospital? The police?”

“Police first. I would think that if he ended up in the hospital one of us would be called.”

Tommy pulled his phone out, quickly searching for the number to the local police department. 

“I swear to God, if he’s been arrested—“ Tommy turned around to face Felicity, his voice trailing off as the volume of the crowd grew louder. His eyes narrowed as he watched Felicity’s eyes widen. He turned back around to look at the stage, dropping his phone from his ear in the process.

The music had come to a halt as Oliver took the stage, his hand covering his nose as blood trailed down the side of his face. The other guy was slightly taller than him, Tommy noted as he watched Oliver’s fist slide into the guy’s face. Tommy groaned, his body moving toward the stage immediately. 

“We need to get John down here,” he yelled at Laurel and Felicity over his shoulder, already turning to make his way through the crowd. “Now!” He flinched at the sound of the crowd cheering and glanced up just in time to see Oliver stumble back on the stage. He heard John yelling somewhere to his right for people to get out of his way. He stopped in his tracks as two men in uniform beat him to the stage. His hands moved to rub his forehead as he heard the sound of handcuffs followed by the all too familiar warnings tumbling from the officer’s mouth.

Oliver was laughing from the stage, his head rolling backward. “You’re arresting me? You’re seriously arresting me? Do you have any idea who I am?”

The cop raised his eyebrow. “Why don’t you just stay quiet, son.”

Snorting, Oliver shook his head, but thankfully didn’t say anything else as the officer walked him off the stage and over to the side exit. John finished the walk toward him, shaking his head as he stopped next to him. “Well, this is inconvenient.”

Tommy glared at him. “Yeah. You want to deal with this? I’ll go… I’ll go attempt to get him out so we don’t miss anymore shows.”

John nodded in agreement. “Refund?”

“Not if we can get away with not giving one. They did get a show after all.”

“I suppose they did.”

Pressing his fingers against the side of his head, he took a deep breath. “How much did he have to drink?”

“He was sober when he was with me,” Felicity said from behind them. Both men turned around, finding the worried faces of Felicity and Laurel. “That was only two hours ago, Tommy. I don’t… he didn’t sound like he was planning on hitting the bar either.”

“Why else would he—“ Tommy’s voice trailed off as Felicity shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Laurel, will you help John with cleaning this mess up?”

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Better grab your camera Felicity, you’ll come with me.”

The ride to the police station was quiet. Felicity kept glancing over at Tommy has he navigated the bus through the late city traffic. She bit down on the bottom of her lip, glancing over at him every couple of minutes. He pulled the bus up against the curb across the street from the station. 

“You coming in,” he asked glancing over at her.

“Um, no.” Felicity pursed her lips as her head shook faintly. “Cops aren’t awfully fond of cameras. Figure I might want to keep it out of their zone.”

Tommy nodded understandingly. “Makes sense to me.”

He made no move to exit the car when Felicity’s phone chimed. She glanced down at it, swiping it unlocked to read the message from Laurel. She held back a groan as she looked up at Tommy.

“Laurel,” she explained. “John found who he’s assuming to be the girlfriend of the other guy in one of the dressing rooms.”

Tommy didn’t hold back the groan as his head fell forward. “Of course. That’s just great.”

He opened the door, standing outside of it for a second. “Well, hopefully I’ll be back with him. There’s no way we can cancel the next few shows. Tonight was bad enough.”

“Don’t worry about any of that now. Just… go worry about getting him out.”

Watching as Tommy walked into the building, Felicity quickly texted Laurel back to let her know that they were there. She leaned her head against the window, wondering how long it took to get somebody out of jail. She imagined that if he was actually being charged they would be thrown off schedule a least a few days. 

She pulled up a game on her phone, mindlessly playing it as she waited for any sign of Tommy or Oliver. She smiled when she saw Laurel’s name flash across the screen again.

“Hey, how’d everything go,” Felicity asked, leaning her head against the headrest.

“No refunds, place is clearing out. So, I suppose it’s a win,” Laurel replied, her voice dry.

“That bad?”

“Could be worse. Tommy have any luck with Oliver yet?”

“I don’t know, I stayed out in the bus. I didn’t really think me walking in with a camera was going to put them in a friendly mood.”

“There’s probably truth to that. He’s been in there about an hour, right?”

“Yeah. I’m wondering if I should go in and see how things are going. There’s only so many games a girl can play by herself before getting bored.”

“We’re on our way over. If Oliver gets out, we need to get on the road right away if we want to make it the next city.”

“We can have a party in the parking lot,” Felicity said sarcastically, smiling at Laurel’s laughter.

“We won’t even have to walk far to our own cell.”

Felicity laughed, shaking her head. “All right, I’ll see you guys soon.” She grabbed her bag and opened up the door rubbing her hands against her bare arms as she started making her way inside. She stopped halfway across the parking lot, eyes widening as she heard Tommy and Oliver’s voices. She pulled the camera out of her bag, turning it on and setting it up just in time to capture Oliver slamming the door to the station open. Her breath caught when she saw the look on Tommy’s face. In the few weeks she had spent with Tommy, she had seen a variety of emotions from him, but she’d yet to see him seriously angry. His eyebrows were drawn together, his eyes darkened.

“I don’t get why you’re so mad about this, the charges were dropped.” Oliver’s voice was low, as he turned around to face Tommy. “We could probably still go have a concert.”

Tommy opened his mouth, before closing it again. He shook his head, laughing softly. “You just don’t get it do you, Oliver? You were arrested for getting into a fight with some girl’s boyfriend. You probably don’t even know this girl’s name. You aren’t even drunk. This is just you.”

“Maybe it is. What’s so wrong with this being me? You used to be the one who got arrested with me.”

“I grew up! You aren’t a kid anymore man. You have to go grow up.”

“You have to stop drinking,” Oliver replied, his voice mimicking Tommy’s. “You have to stop getting arrested. You have to grow up. Anything else you want to demand out of me, mom?”

“I’m done. After this tour, you need to find a new manager.” Tommy made his way around Oliver, walking toward Felicity. 

“You aren’t serious,” Oliver shouted.

“Yeah, I am.” Tommy turned back around. “I kept telling myself that if I just stuck around a little longer, that you would finally get it together. That maybe if you stopped drinking, I would get my best friend back. And I get it now. This is you. The drinking, the womanizing, the all-around not giving a fuck… that’s you. But that’s not my best friend, and I’m done waiting around for him to come back.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, I am so sorry about how long this took. I thought I would have more time to write after I graduated, but real life has just been kicking my butt. I'm nowhere near giving up on this story. If you guys ever want to know where I am on it, you can probably find me on Tumblr complaining about how long it’s taking me to finish the next chapter!

Scrunching her nose, Felicity glared at the blue on her fingers. Leaning her head back against the seat, she squinted her eyes moving her hand around against the light. She glanced over at Thea, watching as she finished tightening the lid on the polish she had finished using. They had been on the bus for three days. Tommy and Digg went on the other bus after Oliver’s arrest. Oliver had passed out before anyone could really talk to him about anything. When he woke up the next morning, Thea and Felicity were on the couches, watching a movie. He looked at the two of them, before nodding his head. He disappeared into his room and hadn’t made himself overly known since then.

“I told you to stick with purple,” Thea commented, laughing as she handed Felicity the nail polish remover. “You loved the purple.”

“Of course I loved the purple. It’s the perfect combination of rich color that lasts with a slight shimmer that isn’t a bitch to get off like glitter coats.” Felicity grabbed the bottle from Thea, pouring it onto a cotton ball as she started removing the polish. “I’ve also been wearing the same color for the last three polish changes. I’m becoming predictable.”

“It’s a cute color.” Thea shrugged, before continuing to apply the top coat over the pink on her nails. “You could look through my polish. Between the two of us we could probably open up a nail store without any upfront costs.”

“I’ll add that to my backup plan list.”

“Your backup plan list,” Thea asked, amused as she handed Felicity a deep green shade.

Felicity scrunched her nose at the color, setting it down again. “Yeah, my backup plan list. You know, for when this crazy pipe dream of making movies passes. My mom assures me on an almost biweekly basis that it’s going to happen soon.”

“Your parents wanted you to do something else?”

“My mom did. My major was originally molecular biology. I was on a Mom approved path to becoming a doctor.”

“So, what happened?”

“I took Intro to Film during my first quarter, and I don’t know, fell in love I guess. I switched my major. I didn’t tell me mom for two years. It’s still a sore subject.”

Thea raised her eyebrow. “So, besides the taking some time off part, we aren’t that different.”

Felicity shook her head, “Well, I’m missing the oomph of having the last name Queen. But in the letting parents down and following your dreams part? Not really.”

“Your parents still aren’t okay with your decision?”

“Not at all. My mom especially… my dad tries to stay out of it, but I can tell he’s disappointed, you know? They had big dreams for my brother and me. A doctor and a lawyer. My brother lived up to his end of the bargain, I’m the letdown.”

“How about yellow,” Thea questioned, changing the subject. “I think I have a really bright yellow. I can probably even draw a little bee.”

“I could paint a flower on yours.”

Thea widened her eyes, in fake surprise. “We could have friendship nails.”

Felicity started laughing as she grabbed the yellow Thea was talking about. She went to work unscrewing the cap, before gliding the polish over her nail. She puckered her lips as she finished the first nail. “I think I like it,” she said, shooting a smile to Thea.

“I’m starting to get worried about him.” Thea nodded her head towards the back of the bus. “I mean, I don’t know if I’ve actually seen him in twenty-four hours. The other bus made it to New York six hours ago, he should have figured something was going on. Why hasn’t he asked about where we are?”

“Does he even know that Tommy canceled two of the shows? I mean, I don’t think they talked about it. So, maybe he thinks were supposed to be in the middle of nowhere still? Or he could have heard us talking about taking the week off?”

“And he didn’t say anything?”

“He’s been too drunk to notice?”

Thea snorted. “Or he’s dead.”

“Eh. I mean, it smells, but I think if he were _dead_ it would smell more.”

“I don’t care if we literally have to bathe him ourselves, he’s taking a shower when we get to the next truck stop.”

“But, like, Thea, don’t you know Oliver Queen is like too good to take a shower at a truck stop? What if someone takes his picture?”

“I sound nothing like that,” Oliver spoke up, crossing his arms as he leaned against the edge of the wall.

“Well, actually…” Felicity’s voice trailed off as she lifted her head up to look at him. Thea had been kidding about him dying, but actually seeing him for longer than a second for the first time in two days had her thinking Thea might have been pretty close to the truth. He had dark bags under his eyes, and his jeans looked loose around his waist.

“You’re staring,” he deadpanned, looking down at Felicity.

“I see your shirt allergy is acting up again.”

Oliver laughed, shaking his head. “Only around you.”

“You should probably eat after your shower,” Thea mentioned, as she looked over at him. “I think we should be at the truck stop in about twenty.”

“Why aren’t we in New York?”

“We, uh,” Thea glanced over at Felicity as she started answering Oliver’s question. “We sort of thought that maybe New York wasn’t the best place for you to be for the next five days.”

“Why is that?”

“There’s a lot of alcohol in New York.”

“There’s a lot of alcohol on this tour bus.”

“Actually,” Felicity started, “There’s only the alcohol in your room left. And we’re getting rid of that when you shower.”

“Are you,” Oliver asked, his tone disbelieving.

“Yeah, we are.”

“You guys are crazy. What am I supposed to do on a bus for five days?”

“We have that planned too. We bought Monopoly at our last stop.”

“You expect me to play Monopoly? For five days?”

“There’s also going to be TV binging,” Thea added, “and I think we are halfway through planning our singing competition.”

“You can’t sing,” Oliver replied pointedly.

Shrugging, Thea tilted her head. “We won’t be on the bus for five days either.”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re in Georgia. I figured we could stay at the cabin for a couple of days before we go to New York. Go swimming, watch movies, you know, hang out somewhere other than a tour bus or a bar.”

“Thea—

“Don’t ‘Thea’ me. I think maybe you need a time out, Oliver. Your life is constantly going, maybe you need to remember that it can stop sometimes.”

“A trip to the cabin is fine, I just don’t see why everyone is making my drinking into a big deal. Everyone drinks. I don’t have a problem.”

“Then going a few days without it shouldn’t be a big deal.” Felicity smiled at him, her lips tight as she made her point. “Right?”

Oliver glanced at her, not saying anything as his eyes narrowed. She raised her eyebrow as she smiled at him slightly before rolling her eyes as he walked back to his room. Felicity turned her attention back to Thea, shaking her head before going back to painting her nails. It wasn’t until the bus had stopped in front of the truck stop that Oliver walked back out, a bag in his hand.

“Alright, here you two are.”

Thea smiled at him, reaching up to grab the bag. She scrunched her nose up as she glanced at the contents. “That’s all of it?”

“You’re more than welcome to check.” He tipped his head at her, as he pulled is hat down. “I’m going to go take that shower I think was ordered of me.”

“We appreciate it,” Felicity said with a smile as he walked away. She glanced over at Thea, nodding toward the room. “Well, let’s go look.”

“And risk ruining these nails?”

Felicity laughed, leaning her head back against the seat. “Fair point. I have some of those insta-dry drops in my bag.”

“They never work and they taste awful. What,” Thea asked, rolling her eyes. “You know it’s true. The oil gets everywhere contaminating basically everything you touch, including food.”

“Maybe that’ll be our first product for Plan B. Yummy tasting, instantly drying nail oil.”

“Sounds like a solid plan. How far did you get in those science classes? They might be handy.”

Felicity snorted as she shook her head slightly. “Not very far. Maybe you should add some if you go back to school.”

“Maybe I will.”

“All right, come on. Why don’t we go throw that,” Felicity pointed toward the bag of alcohol Oliver left by the door, “away?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Felicity grabbed the bag as she opened the door. The sun was just beginning to go down as she and Thea walked out of the bus and made their way across the parking lot to drop the bag into a garbage can.

“It almost seems wasteful,” Thea said, looking over at Felicity. “Maybe we should have donated it.”

“I don’t think there’s a lot of places to donate opened alcohol to.”

“eBay? We probably could have raised some money.”

Felicity laughed as they started walking back toward the bus. “Maybe.”

“It’s beautiful out here.”

“Yeah it is,” Felicity replied as she looked around at the scenery, which was mainly hills and trees for as far as she could see. “It’s one of the things I’ve really enjoyed about this trip. There’s a lot of beauty everywhere.”

Thea shook her head, tilting it toward the bus as she started talking. “We probably should go look through his room. He seemed a little… too okay with this, right?”

“Just a little.”

Felicity followed Thea into the bus and paused in the doorway to Oliver’s room. She took in the tidiness of the room nothing seemed to be out of its place. She had honestly expected the room to be messier. The second thing she noticed was how open the room was, she could find only a few places where Olive could hide anything. There was a dresser against the wall furthest from them, a laundry hamper placed beside it, and the bed looked like it had built in drawers beneath it, not exactly prime spots for hiding anything.

“So, I guess I’ll get the laundry hamper,” Thea asked, turning her head slightly toward Felicity, “And you can go through the drawers?”

“Why do I have to go through the drawers? You’re his sister. I think that falls in your territory.”

“Seriously? I think being his sister disqualifies me from going through his room completely. I mean, you’re the video journalist, this is practically your job.”

Felicity sighed. “We’re being ridiculous. I mean, what’s the worst that we could find?”

“His sleazy sex drawer that could possibly traumatize me for the rest of my life.”

“His sleazy sex drawer? You’ve watched him do body shots off of a random girl and get arrested for getting into a fight with a girl’s boyfriend. Plus, weren’t you there when he was arrested for peeing on a cop car? If that didn’t traumatize you, you don’t get to pull that card now.”

“I reserve the right to always pull the traumatized by brother’s sleazy sex life and other terrible decisions card. It’s one of the perks.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes at Thea before sighing loudly. “Fine. I’ll do the dirty work.”

“We could just trust him.”

“Might be a good idea. It’s not like we’re going to be around a lot of people the next couple of days anyway, we’d probably be able to tell if he were drinking.”

“I like the way you think.”

“We could totally nap on his bed.”

“It does look really comfortable doesn’t it,” Felicity asked as she watched Thea flop down into the bed, stretching her arms up above her head.

“It is. No wonder he never leaves this room. If the bed in my bunk was this comfortable, I would never leave.”

Shaking her head, Felicity laid down next to Thea. Sighing, she moved her body slightly as she got comfortable. “You’re right. I vote Oliver sleeps in the bunks tonight. Even with both of us on here, it’s still better than them.”

Thea hummed her approval as Felicity closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she heard the door to the bus open.

“Napping on my bed,” Oliver’s voice poured into the room followed by his laughter. Felicity turned her head to see him standing in the doorway. Small drops of water ran down his face from his still wet hair before adding to the small wet spot on the upper portion of his shirt. She tilted her head as she watched Oliver walk around the small room, dropping items into various places. “That’s the best you two to could come up?”

Thea shrugged next to Felicity, her eyes remaining closed. “Felicity refused to try to find your sleazy sex drawer.”

“Second drawer to the right,” Oliver responded without missing a beat. “You’ll find all of my dirty secrets there.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” Felicity sat her feet on the ground, stretching as she stood up.

“Oh really,” Oliver asked, his eyebrow raising slightly.

“For research purposes, of course.” Closing her eyes, Felicity pushed away the thought, trying to control the blush spreading over her body. “It’s sort of my job to discover all of your dirty secrets right?”

“I thought it was to show the world a different side of Oliver Queen.”

“That’s just what I said to get the job,” Felicity teased. “My real plan is much more devious.”

“I believe it.”

Thea laughed, interrupting their conversation. “Napping seemed like the next best option,” she whispered as she turned on to her side. “Feel free to leave me here.”

“Is she really asleep,” Felicity asked, looking over at her.

“It’s one of her many talents. One that I was especially jealous of growing up. She can fall asleep faster than anyone I have ever met.”

“That’s sort of impressive.” She turned her attention back to Oliver. “And depressing. We were supposed to have an epic Scrabble battle.”

“We could play?”

“Really?” Felicity didn’t even try to hide the surprise in her voice.

Oliver shrugged. “My vocabulary might not be as great, but I bet I could still kick your ass.”

“Really,” Felicity repeated, rising her eyebrow. “I doubt that.”

Oliver waved his hands toward the door. “Lead the way.”

Felicity brushed past Oliver as she made her way to the front of the bus. Oliver followed behind her, watching as she stretched her arms up trying to reach into the cabinet to grab the game. He shook his head as he moved closer to her, leaning over her to grab the game. “For someone so short, you sure do enjoy putting things up high.”

She glared at the wall in front of her. “I enjoy the stretching.”

Oliver laughed as he moved away, placing the game on the table as he slid into his seat. “There’s at least twenty games in there.”

“We might have gone a little overboard.”

“A little? I’m not really sure how Operation is going to play out, you know with the bumpy roads and all.”

“Probably the same way it normally goes: smooth until someone ends up in tears from the pressure.” Felicity sat down, pulling the lid off of the game. She worked quickly to get it set up. “You want to go first,” she asked as she pulled out her tiles.

“You go for it,” Oliver responded, his hand brushing against hers as he snagged the bag from her hands. “Show me what that fancy college brain can come up with it.”

Felicity rolled her eyes as she organized her tiles on her rack. She tilted her head as she concentrated on what her options were.

“Anytime now.”

“Shut up,” Felicity hissed as she glanced up from her tiles, narrowing her eyes as Oliver smiled at her. She didn’t trust the carefree expression on his face, or the mischievous vibe that seemed to be pouring off of him.

“I don’t have all night.”

Felicity snorted as she watched him tap his finger to his wrist. “You got a big schedule over there?”

“Well after I win this, I’m fully planning on winning some Operation. Maybe Monopoly.”

“You’re pretty sure about all that,” Felicity commented, laying the tiles down on the board. “Let’s see, that’s… twenty-four.” Felicity raised her eyebrow at him definitely. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Oliver placed his tiles almost immediately. Felicity sighed as she realized what his game plan was. He had placed his tiles directly beneath hers, creating some small words that built off of hers, on top of his word, for more points. “So that’s…”

“Twenty.” Felicity finished for him.

“And no double word point. You’re going down, Smoak.”

“You wish,” she muttered under her breath, ignoring the pointed look he gave her as she planned out her next word. They played the next few rounds without talking too much. Felicity had to admit that she had underestimated his Scrabble skills.

“So, how’s the footage coming,” Oliver asked as she finished adding up her last word; a whole nine points.

“Not great,” she answered. “I was going through it earlier, trying seeing what I have so far. I spent most of the morning deleting footage of Tommy and I playing cards. I’m debating leaving in the hour we spent having a staring contest. It got pretty intense.”

Oliver smiled at her, before placing down his tiles. “Fifteen, plus the triple letter makes… twenty four?”

Felicity sighed as she added the points to his score. He was currently at least fifty points ahead of her. He really hadn’t been kidding about kicking her ass.

“Maybe when we get to the cabin, I could watch some of it with you?”

“It’s pretty boring stuff. I mean, honestly, besides a couple scenes of you hitting people and drinking, it’s basically a lot of me and Tommy playing cards. There’s a pretty good ten minute arm wrestling match between Digg and Tommy, too.”

“Shouldn’t a documentary about me have more, well, me?”

Felicity shrugged, glancing up at him. “You would sort of have to come out of your room more often.”

“I haven’t been making your job easy, have I?”

Felicity shrugged. “It’s not your job to.” She smiled at him briefly before placing her tiles down. “And that’s… ten points.” She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the board. “How is that only ten points?”

“We can start playing Operation whenever you want.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

Twirling her spoon around in her bowl of cereal, Felicity hummed lightly under her breath as she turned the page in the book she was reading. She hadn't known exactly what to expect from the impromptu cabin trip with Thea and Oliver, but three days in and it hadn't been much different than life on the tour bus. Just a little less bumpy and with more room.

Oliver had, for the most part, been stuck in a room with what he liked to refer to as a 'Thea induced hangover'. Felicity knew Thea felt bad about the no drinking while at the cabin rule, judging by the amount of time Thea spent cringing as she heard her brother get sick or the worried glances she would throw at him when he did come out of the room.

"Do you think I'm crazy," Thea had asked her the night before, lying next to Felicity outside gazing at the stars in the sky. "For the no drinking thing? He may have been making crap decisions, but at least he could get out of bed, right?"

Felicity turned her head to the side to look at Thea. "I think that what is going on with him now was going to happen eventually.”

“Have you seen him? He looks like death.”

Felicity shrugged, turning her head back to look at the stars. “Better to look like death than to be dead.”

Thea sighed heavily. “Well when you put it like that.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, Thea. I think you love your brother and are worried about him. So, even if you were crazy, it’d be the justifiable kind.”

“You’re staring at that cereal pretty hard,” Oliver’s voice rang around Felicity, pulling her out of her thoughts. She glanced up from the bowl in front of her to find him sitting across the kitchen island from her, a plate of eggs in front him.

“How long have you been down here?”

“Long enough to know that you like your cereal really soggy. And apparently sugary. I kind of pictured you as more of a whole-grain muffin girl myself.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow as she took a bite of the cereal. “You have a lot of thoughts about what kind of breakfast foods I enjoy?”

Oliver gave a noncommittal shrug. “Maybe.”

“You look better,” Felicity said with a nod toward him. “I think this is the longest I’ve seen your out of your room since we’ve been here.”

“You might be right. This is definitely the most I’ve been able to eat.” He took a bite of the eggs as if to make a point. “Thanks for noticing the improvement.”

“It’d be a little hard to miss. You no longer smell or look like death.”

Oliver’s lip curled up slightly as he gave a half-hearted laugh. “You think a two day hangover like that might be a sign of a problem?”

“I think questioning if it is a sign of a problem and referring to what was probably withdrawal as a two day hangover is a pretty good indication.”

“Well thanks,” Oliver replied in a clipped voice as he focused his attention on the plate in front of him.

Felicity shrugged, shaking her head. “You asked.”

Felicity finished eating her breakfast in silence, glancing up between bites occasionally to look at Oliver. Thea hadn’t been lying, Oliver had looked beyond sick the last few days. But looking at him now, the color seemed to have returned to his skin and there was no longer a sheen of sweat covering him. While she knew he looked better, there was still something off about his appearance, something different.

Rolling her eyes at her last thought, Felicity gathered up her dishes and carried them into the kitchen, rinsing them out. Walking back to the island, she picked up her cell phone glaring at the screen as the no service button caught her attention.

“How is it even possible that I have better reception on a highway than in a cabin that is at most twenty miles from town,” Felicity asked in a whiny way.

Oliver huffed out a small chuckle as he attempted to take another bite. He shook his head as he swallowed the food before responding. “One of the big reasons my parents loved this place was the convenience of town, but with the middle of nowhere feel to it. I think they are the reason there’s no reception out here.”

“That’s awful.”

“That’s my parents for you.”

Oliver looked up from his plate to shrug at Felicity as he repeated Felicity’s earlier action of clearing his dishes. Felicity watched as he walked into the kitchen, knitting her eyebrows as she tried to figure out where that comment had come from exactly.

“So where are the cameras,” Oliver asked as he walked back toward Felicity. “I assumed you already put them up, but I haven’t seen any.”

“Oh,” Felicity started. “I actually didn’t. The ceilings are pretty tall and with this much space we would all need to wear the microphone packs. And well, honestly, the thought of touching you long enough to get one on since we’ve been here kind of made me want to vomit.”

Oliver closed his eyes, his nose crinkling up as he leaned his head down. “I probably could have used the company.”

“That is disgusting.”

Oliver shrugged, his lips turning up in a small smile. “Well, I’m sorry your film is going to be missing all of the good footage.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I think the footage from you getting arrested is going to be the highlight really.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Felicity responded, placing her hands inside of the pockets of her jeans. “Or you know, maybe your comeback. Everyone loves a good comeback montage.”

“Comeback? And what exactly am I supposed to be coming back from?”

“Alcoholism? Being arrested on stage at your own concert, before your band even plays? Said band being on the verge of what has the ingredients for a really big public break up?” Felicity shrugged, shooting him a slightly sympathetic glance. “Take your pick really.”

Oliver just stared at her for a second, his mouth tightening as he tried to process all of the ways she had managed to insult him in less than thirty seconds. “You could have just said something about the five pounds I’ve gained, with it being beach season and all.”

Felicity didn’t even bother to try to hide the eye roll or disgusted sigh as she shook her head. “You have enough people in your life lying to you Oliver. And I’m not paid to be one of them.”

“I didn’t realize you were paid to be a counselor either, Felicity.”

“If you don’t like my answers, stop asking me questions.” Felicity glanced past Oliver to the staircase behind him. “And I’m pretty done with this conversation. I’m going to go try to find some sunscreen and go hang out with your sister.”

Felicity walked toward the stairs, ignoring the feeling of Oliver staring at her as she turned around the corner to head toward the room she was staying in. She sighed as she closed the door behind her, shaking her head slightly as she pulled the bottom of her shirt up. The media portrayed Oliver a lot of different ways, but it seemed to fail at portraying how incredibly frustrating he was. She finished changing into her bathing suit, shifting through the clothes in her suitcase to look for something to wear over it.

Pulling out a light pink summer dress, Felicity walked into the bathroom, looking through the drawers for the bottle of sunscreen Thea had pointed out to her the night they had arrived. Finally spotting it in the back of the medicine cabinet, she quickly applied it to her skin. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she waited for the lotion to set into her skin before pulling the dress over her head.

She half expected Oliver to still be downstairs when she returned to the landing a minute later. A part of her was slightly disappointed, the part that was expecting and still waiting for him to apologize. She tried to push the thought out of her head, she was starting to think that expecting things from him was only going to lead to disappointment. And it didn’t even make sense for her to be expecting things from him. Sure he had apologized once for his behavior and mentioned how he needed a friend. But it wasn’t as if he had been frantically making friendship bracelets for them to wear.

Not that she was really expecting him to make her a friendship bracelet, but a part of her expected something out of him. For something to change, or maybe for them to be able to have a ten minute conversation that didn’t end with him apologizing. Her face twisted up at the thought. She knew that she wasn’t exactly being the easiest person when it came to his behavior, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t so hard on him to begin with, if he would still be so defensive around her.

Her body tingled as she walked outside, the heat warming her skin up from the cool cabin. It amazed her how they could go from one city where it was barely warm enough to get away with just a sweater to a place where she was about to go sunbathing. She walked around the cabin, squinting her eyes against the sunlight as she finally spotted Thea on the dock closest to her.

“What’s got you all broody? Trying to take a run for my brother’s trophy,” Thea asked as Felicity sat down next to her on the dock.

Pulling the sundress over her head, Felicity rolled her eyes. “I think I could brood steadily for twenty four hours and still be nowhere near taking your brother’s trophy. He’s got a pretty good lock on that category.”

Thea raised her eyebrow. “I take it he came out of his room?”

“Yep,” Felicity replied, leaning back into the chair and closing her eyes. “He looks better. And I think he showered.”

“That gift wasn’t enough to make you forgive him for whatever he did to piss you off this morning,” Thea asked with a laugh.

“I’m not pissed off.”

“You’re not happy.”

“So, when do we leave for New York,” Felicity asked, trying to change the subject.”

“Mhmm,” Thea hummed out, mostly to prove her point before answering Felicity’s question. “We’ll probably stay here another night. We could stay a little longer and just get to New York right before the show, but I was sort of planning on spending at least part of the day there. Maybe drag Roy shopping with me.”

“I’m sure he’d love that.”

“Okay, maybe drag you and Laurel shopping with me.”

“That sounds nice.” Felicity nodded her head, sitting up slightly in her chair as she heard the dock creak slightly. “This dock isn’t going to fall apart on us, is it,” Felicity asked, opening her eyes to look at Thea, who seemed to have an oddly demonic look on her face.

A look which she was planning on questioning, if it hadn’t of been for Oliver picking her up from her chair and jumping off the edge of the dock with her. Thea’s laughter was the last thing she heard before her world was overtaken by water. As she swam toward the surface, all she could think was that somehow Oliver Queen, who was not in any way small or quiet, managed to surprise her and throw her into a lake.

Her mouth opened as soon as she came up from under the water, her lungs working faster than she could think to find oxygen. She glared as her eyes found Oliver’s, who was only about five feet away from her, grinning like an idiot. She pulled one of her hands up, pushing it against the water, laughing as she watched the droplets hit him on the chest.

“I cannot believe you did that,” Felicity whined. “You don’t even know if I can swim.”

“You seem to be doing just fine,” Oliver replied, splashing water back at her.

“Well, now you know. But you did not know thirty seconds ago when you threw me into a lake.”

“Technically I jumped with you.”

“You still didn’t know that I could swim when you jumped.”

“I didn’t actually let go of you until you pushed away from me. I assumed you knew what you were doing from there.”

“I’m pretty sure flailing in the water is a pretty natural response to some jerk throwing you into it.” Felicity laughed, as she tried to avoid the water Oliver was throwing at her.

“I think it all worked out.”

“You got lucky. Just imagine how awful this would have been if I couldn’t.”

Oliver shrugged, a wide grin spreading across his face. “I think I could have saved you. I was on the swim team in high school and a lifeguard.”

Felicity made a disgusted face as she pushed more water toward him. “You probably were. That is awful.”

Oliver laughed, holding his hands up as the water splashed against him. They swam in silence for a few moments before Oliver moved closer to Felicity. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

“For throwing me in the lake,” Felicity asked, tilting her head to the side. “You really should be--”

“No,” Oliver laughed, shaking his head. “For earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped about your answer. You were right. I asked you a question and you had every right to answer it however you wanted.”

“Did you mean what you said about us trying to be friends,” Felicity asked, pushing back a strand of wet hair from her face. “Or is that just something I should chalk up to Tommy made you apologize and I got fooled by the Oliver Queen charm?”

Oliver’s face flushed as he looked down at the water. “I don’t know if I meant it then,” he paused, looking back up at Felicity. “But I do know that I mean it now.”

“Then apology accepted.” Felicity gave him a small smile. “But, Oliver, this whole apologizing because you’re an ass thing is going to get really old pretty fast.”

Oliver sighed. “I know. I could just not apologize,” Oliver responded, a playful light filling his eyes as he smiled at her. “Or you could just say nicer things about me.”

Felicity rolled her eyes as her hand hit against the water, laughing as Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. “You could just be less of an ass and maybe then I’d have nicer things to say about you.”

“I can work on that.”

Felicity’s attention pulled away from Oliver as she heard Thea jump into the water. She watched as Thea swam toward them, smiling at them both.

“So, I couldn’t help but notice that a Felicity versus Oliver water fight seemed a little lopsided. Figured I’d come help a girl out.” Thea turned her head to face Felicity, slowly mouthing ‘now’.

Felicity laughed, nodding as they both pulled their arms back toward their body to splash Oliver. Oliver moved his arms up instinctively, covering his face from the majority of the water being thrown at him. He lowered his arms down after they finished, a slow smile pulling at his lips as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “Oh, it’s on now.”

The water fight continued for a while after, until Felicity and Thea’s sides hurt from laughing and Felicity swore her arm was going to be sore for a week if they didn’t stop. Thea had already gone inside to shower, complaining about how she was going to perpetually smell like lake water if she waited any longer.

Standing on the middle of the dock, Felicity wrapped her arms around her stomach as she tried to will the sun to warm her skin again. Felicity glanced over at Oliver, watching as he placed his towel over his face. She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth as she watched him. The fact that Oliver Queen was gorgeous was not one she really focused on. It was actually usually one that was easy to ignore given his behavior. But watching him then, the sun reflecting off water drops he was attempting to remove, Felicity allowed herself to stare longer than normally would.

She shook her head, closing her eyes. "Did you bring enough towels to share," she asked, opening her eyes.

She smiled at Oliver as he handed her a towel. She began to dry her skin before wrapping it around her body.

She used her fingers to try and comb through her wet hair. Her lips twisted up in frustration as her fingers kept getting caught in her hair as the curls became knots. “I should probably go shower too,” she said, nodding her head toward the cabin. “The whole lake water smell isn’t really a good smell for anyone and I might need to use two bottles of conditioner before I'm able to brush my hair.”

Oliver laughed, stretching his arms back before placing and holding his towel against the back of his neck. “I figured it’d be an improvement for me.”

"Using conditioner," Felicity asked, a teasing smile on her face.

"The lake water smell," Oliver responded with a laugh. "I figured this," he paused, waving his hand toward the lake "would count as bathing moment for the day."

Felicity scrunched her nose up as she bent down to pick up her dress. “Bathing in lakes doesn't count as a bathing moment when you have a cabin with five state-of-the-art showers. Showering regularly in one is not really the worst thing you could do.”

“I’m sure it breaks one of the rules in the rockstar handbook,” Oliver replied as he followed alongside her back to the cabin.

“There’s a handbook?”

“Of course there is,” Oliver said in a teasing voice. “How else do you think we all end up being the same cliché?”


	8. Chapter 8

They arrived in New York the night before the concert. The sky was just beginning to fade into a deeper shade of blue as the bus began to navigate through the city streets instead of the freeway. Felicity was spread out across the couch, her feet pressed against the edge, bending her knees. Thea was sitting on the floor beside the couch, her head resting against Felicity’s legs as she flipped through a magazine.

“At least we have the hotel tonight and tomorrow,” Thea said, her head turning to the side to look at Oliver. “It’s nonstop driving and shows for the next week right?”

“Yeah,” Oliver responded, looking up from his phone to to frown at Thea. “Should be nice and fun. Tommy really spread the stops out for this tour.”

“Lots of time for us to finish Dawson’s Creek,” Thea joked, smiling brightly at her brother. “Maybe Felicity will even be able to memorize the dictionary by then and actually give you a run for your money in Scrabble.”

“Shut up,” Felicity muttered, her hand brushing against Thea’s hair as she half-heartedly shoved at it. “I don’t think I’m making the mistake of betting against your brother again.”

“She’s just upset that I beat her at Uno last night,” Oliver said, his features brightening as he looked at Thea. “She now has the pleasure of doing at least three rounds of my laundry.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasure,” Felicity said quickly, her words overlapping with Oliver’s, as she leaned her head back over the edge of the couch to glare at him.

“I’m sure I could find a fan out there somewhere that would find it pleasurable.”

Felicity made a gagging sound as she shook her head. “There’s something so wrong about that.”

“You sure you don’t want to try and finish the game? You never know, you might win,” Oliver teased, tilting his head down at the unfinished Scrabble game in front of him.

Felicity rolled her eyes, sitting up on the couch as she stuck her tongue out at Oliver childishly. “We both know I’m not making a comeback.”

“Sore loser.”

“I’m still not convinced you aren’t peeking at the tiles when you pull them out,” Felicity accused, her eyes narrowing in exaggerated judgment.

“Yeah, cause you aren’t watching me like a hawk every time I put my hand in the bag.”

Felicity tried to stop her brain from thinking of other places she wouldn’t mind watching Oliver’s hands go. But, judging by the smirk that spread over Oliver’s face as he looked at her, she wasn’t very successful at it. “It is statistically impossible that I would draw the z and x every single time we play Oliver.”

“It might be impossible, but that doesn’t seem to change the fact that it’s what keeps happening.”

“You lost a bet on Uno,” Thea interrupted, moving forward from the couch to turn around and look at Felicity. “Uno,” Thea repeated in disbelief, her face scrunched down in confusion. “How do you even bet on Uno?”

“It was three am,” Felicity argued, ignoring Thea’s question. “I can’t be trusted for the decisions I make after midnight, let alone three hours later.”

“The first time I met you was after midnight,” Oliver pointed out.

“Exactly my point. I agreed to Tommy’s plan after midnight.” Felicity sat up, shaking her head at Oliver. “Horrible decision making skills,” she teased.

Felicity’s phone buzzed against her side as Thea finished standing, stretching her arms behind her back. Picking up the phone, Felicity quickly read the text message from Tommy.

T: You guys here yet?

The bus began to slow down before Felicity could ask Thea or Oliver how long they thought it would be until they were at the hotel.

F: Perfect timing. Just got here.

T: I have the keys to the rooms. Will you or Thea meet me in the lobby?

Felicity frowned at the message, glancing briefly at Oliver being responding.

F: That your way of seeing you don’t want to see Oliver?

T: Yes.

F: Tommy.

Felicity stared at her phone for a few more moments waiting for Tommy to respond. Realizing that he wasn’t going to, Felicity sighed, standing up and glancing at Thea and Oliver.

“I’m going to go get the keys from Tommy. I’ll be back to get my stuff. Would you guys mind staying here? Not that I don’t trust--”

“Tommy doesn’t want to see me,” Oliver interrupted, his eyes cast down at the table.

“Yeah,” Felicity responded, slowly, as she looked at him.

“Figures.” Oliver looked back up, his hands raising to rest behind his head. “I need a drink.”

“Ollie” Thea exclaimed, her head leaning down as she looked at her brother.

“I said I need one, not that I’m going to get one.”

“Right,” Felicity said, “Well, how about you don’t do that, and I’ll go talk to Tommy.”

Thea nodded at Felicity reassuringly as Oliver gave her a half smile, his face harder to decipher. Felicity walked toward the door of the bus, giving a awkward half wave to Thea and Oliver before opening it and walking out onto the street.

Felicity paused after the door to the bus shut, standing on the last step before the street. She quickly typed another message to Tommy.

F: I’m on my way.

The initial shock of going from a secluded bus to the busy outside world took her breath away as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. Thea swore that eventually it was something she would get used to, Felicity wasn’t sure that she would. She closed her eyes briefly, controlling her breathing to follow a pattern of deep and slow inhales and long, overdrawn exhales as she let her senses take in the noise of other people walking around her, the warmth of the sunshine on her face.

She continued the process for a few moments, before shoving her phone into her sweater pocket. She pushed off the final step, landing onto the pavement with a slight bounce before she darted across the street to the hotel.

Felicity saw Tommy as soon as she walked into the hotel lobby. He was leaning back against one of the white pillars that squared in the front desk. Felicity stopped in front of him, shaking her head slightly as she watched him pull the keys from his pocket.

“Really?” she asked, her head tilting as Tommy held the keys out to her.

Tommy didn’t say anything as he handed Felicity the keys to the rooms. Felicity stared at him as he returned his hand to his pocket, leaning his head further back against the pillar.

Felicity rolled her eyes at the over exaggerated movements Tommy was making. “How long do you actually think you can keep this up?” she asked, placing the cards into her jacket.

“Rooms 407 through 409,” Tommy said, ignoring Felicity’s question.

Felicity pushed her tongue against her lips, shaking her head at him. “I’m being serious, Tommy.”

“How much longer do we have on this tour, “ Tommy deadpanned, the smile on his face void of any humor.

“Tommy.” Felicity repeated, her hands resting against her hips as she sighed. “We aren’t going to make it through the rest of this tour if everyone keeps avoiding this.”

Tommy didn’t respond as he looked at Felicity. He shook his head in frustration as she continued to just stare at him, her eyes narrowed and knowing.

“We’ve made it through worse,” he answered, finally, his voice strained as he looked away from Felicity.

“You call this making it?” Felicity asked, shaking her head in disappointment. “Tommy, I don’t think Laurel and Roy have had a conversation with Oliver since I’ve been here. You guys aren’t making it. You’re failing.”

“We aren’t--?”

“This is going to be the last tour Tommy,” Felicity interrupted. “If things don’t change, this is it.”

“What, are you psychic now?” Tommy questioned, his voice bitter, his ears reddening at the truth of her words.

Felicity’s eyes narrowed more in his direction. “I think he’s trying. I get that he’s probably tried before and this sounds like a broken record to you. To all of you. And that I don’t have that history with him, that knowledge that he’s going to just go back to… that,” Felicity emphasised the last word, her nose crinkling as she tried to think of a better word. “But if you’re really that done, be done. Stop dragging it out. Leave--”

“You’re making it sound like I’m breaking up with him.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

Tommy removed his hands from his pockets, pushing back against the pillar, stepping closer to Felicity as he nodded. “Band meeting then. Before the show tomorrow. Tell Oliver?”

“If I say no, will you?”

Tommy didn’t answer right away, instead he reached forward, squeezing Felicity’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Felicity pulled herself up to sit on the counter space farthest from the actual furniture in the room, watching as Roy and Laurel entered the room and the confused glances they were shooting at Tommy as they noticed Oliver. Felicity hadn’t planned on coming down for the meeting, even though Tommy had included her in on the group text message about the meeting. It had seemed too personal to her, for her to actually be sitting in the room, even if it was set up for recording anyway.

Then Oliver had showed up at her room before nine am with coffee and a hopeful smile asking if she was ready to go down and face the music with him. She wasn’t sure there was any universe in which she would have been able to tell him no with that face.

“Anybody want to tell me why you are having an emergency meeting? Or are we just going to sit here with a cryptic text message as a starting point?” Laurel questioned, as she sat down on the couch in the backstage room, placing her coffee down on the table next to her. “And why is Oliver here?”

“I’m pretty,” Oliver paused, sighing heavily before continuing, “Pretty sure I’m still a part of the group, Laurel.”

“That’s questionable,” Roy stated, his words sharp as he sat down next to Laurel, legs stretched in front of him. “When’s the last time you showed up, hell Oliver, when’s the last time you even knew about a band meeting?”

“You guys have band meetings without me?” Oliver asked, directing his question at Tommy, eyes widening in surprise.

Tommy sighed, pressing his fingers against his temple, attempting to push away the oncoming headache, before nodding toward Oliver. “Yeah man, we do.”

Oliver looked down at the floor, his stomach tightening at the confirmation from Tommy. “Look, I know I haven’t been the most active member or,” Oliver paused, visibly struggling with what he was trying to say, “or even a good friend for that matter, but I’m trying and--”

“Trying?” Roy interrupted, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Oliver. “You’ve been trying? You’ve either been drunk, in jail, or off ‘recuperating’ at one of daddy’s properties since this tour started Oliver. You want us to sit here and listen to you talk about how this is you actually fucking trying?” He paused, scoffing as he shook his head as he looked over at Tommy. “And you really called this meeting expecting us to listen to this bullshit?”

Tommy looked down at the ground, paying close attention to the way the cement was cracked in certain places, the dirt that was lined up against the edge of the wall. He could feel the three of them looking at him, waiting for him to respond. He could even feel Felicity specifically looking at anything but him, and he could hear her. Felicity’s voice had been repeating in his head for over twelve hours: last tour, break up.

“You guys ready to be done?” Tommy asked softly, his eyes still glued to the floor. “Cancel the rest of the shows, go our separate ways?”

Tommy waited for somebody to reply, bending his right knee and placing his foot flat against the wall behind him, he rocked back and forth for a moment before he pushed himself forward and moved toward the center of the room.

“Felicity pointed out yesterday that it’s what’s going to happen,” Tommy continued. “We aren’t making it, we aren’t going to make it, if we can’t figure out how to move beyond our past. And I get it, I completely get if you guys don’t want to.” He paused, looking at Roy and Laurel, hoping that they could see that he meant every word of what he was saying. “But I need to know. There’s no point in dragging this out.”

Felicity watched from where she was as Roy and Laurel looked at each other. It was hard to tell what either of them was thinking or to guess what they were going to say. Oliver’s face was, maybe for the first time, the easiest to read. It was clear that he was terrified that this was it, that Laurel and Roy were one decision away from ending everything.

“We don’t,” Laurel started, her eyes not leaving Roy’s, “we don’t want that.” Laurel looked away from Roy, her gaze moving steadily between Tommy and Oliver. “But I don’t know how we are supposed to go back to what we were either.”

“We don’t,” Oliver said with ease. “I don’t want things to go back to the way they were. I want to move forward.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Roy asked.

“Slowly,” Oliver offered, shrugging slightly. “One choice at a time.”

“But this is it Ollie,” Laurel said with a sigh. “One chance.”

Oliver nodded. “I know.”

“So,” Roy began in a questioning tone, “Are we supposed to hug now? Or are we free to go?”

“Free to go,” Tommy replied, reaching behind his head to scratch behind his ear. “We could all go get food?”

“Yeah,” Laurel agreed. “Food sounds good.”

\----

“Is it weird that I’m nervous,” Oliver asked as Felicity secured his microphone wire against his chest, her hands lingering against his skin longer than was really necessary.

“Hmm,” she asked, pulling her hands back as she looked up at him.

“I’m nervous.”

“To go on stage?”

“Yeah.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes, shaking her head slightly in disbelief as Oliver finished zipping his green jacket. “Little weird. You have been doing this for how long?”

“Half of the audience is probably only here to see if I’m going to get arrested again.”

“Less than half.”

Oliver raised his eyebrow questioningly at Felicity’s statement. “You seem pretty positive of that.”

“Oh. There was a survey. Less than half. The majority seem to think you’ll be on your best behavior at this show and that the one in Chicago toward the end of the tour is when you’ll slip up again.”

Oliver pursed his lips. “Forget I brought it up.”

“Hey,” Felicity started, her hand squeezing against his bicep. “You’re going to do great. I’m excited to see if you actually remember the words to these songs.”

Laughing, Oliver smiled down at her. “I have the really hard ones written on the back of my hand. Don’t tell anyone.”

“I’m serious though, you’ll be wonderful.” Felicity gave him another smile, her hand awkwardly dropping from his arm. “You should probably get out there.”

“Right,” Oliver said slowly, gazing down at her.

Felicity fought the urge to give away her nerves by pulling her bottom lip through her teeth, or to fiddle with the edges of her hair as Oliver continued to stand in front of her, doing nothing more than look at her. He reached out finally, slowly, his hand enclosing hers, still at first before squeezing softly.

“Thank you,” he said after what felt like an inordinate amount of time had passed.

Felicity nodded, squeezing his hand in return, hoping that the confusion she was feeling over why he was thanking her wasn’t written on her face. Whatever his reasons were for thanking her weren’t what Felicity wanted to focus on.

Not that she was actually certain what part of the moment she wanted to focus on.

Oliver didn’t say anything after that. He simply let go of her hand and walked out of the room and down the hall until he disappeared from her vision.

Felicity let out a breath as she moved toward the area of the room where the video monitors were set up. She chose to ignore how shaky her breath was, and how her body felt warmer and looser than it should, focusing instead on adjusting the angles of the cameras that were placed around the venue.

She continued to make small adjustments to the equipment as the show went on. The concert itself, from what Felicity could see and hear from the monitors in front of her, was going incredibly smoothly. The nerves Oliver had displayed before going on stage hadn’t disappeared as soon as he stepped out in front of the crowd, but Felicity could see a significant improvement as the band continued to play. Overall, everything seemed to be more in sync. They were all playing with each other, instead of against each other.

It was hard in the beginning for Felicity to put together the band she had seen playing, with the band that managed to sell millions of albums and headline sold out concerts. But the band that she was currently seeing, they looked like the band they must have been in the past. The kind of band that was capable of achieving greatness.

“Hey Felicity,” John’s voice came over the radio, pulling Felicity away from the screens she was watching and to the little yellow box blinking red.

She pressed down on the button to the side, waiting for the quick beep before responding.

“What’s up?”

“Oliver’s dad just showed up. I need you to go tell Tommy.”

Felicity’s eyes narrowed in confusion, her breath hitching in pause. There was something about John’s tone that set her on edge, something he was trying to convey to her that she felt like she was missing.

“Okay?”

“It’s… complicated,” John replied, the end of his sentence coming out through more of a sigh. “Tommy’s going to want to know. We don’t need a repeat of last week’s show.”

Felicity nodded to herself, forgetting momentarily that John couldn’t actually see the movement. “Complicated. Got it.”

She stood up, taking one last glance at the monitor, focusing on the peaceful features of Oliver’s face as he sang. “I’ll go let him know,” Felicity added, clipping the radio back onto her pants before leaving the room.

Felicity made her way through the hallways of the venue, mentally bracing herself for the sound that was going to escape as soon as she opened the door to the crowd. She pushed against the door, flinching slightly at the immediate flood of noises and smells as she began to scan the room for Tommy. She found him with ease, at a table toward the very back of the room next to the bar. For a moment she was thankful that he seemed to be a creature of habit when it came to where he preferred to sit during the shows.

For the majority of the shows, Felicity had stayed behind the scenes. Watching them from monitors, making sure that she was getting the right views and movement, that the focus was where she needed it to be later on. She had only been out on the floor and with the crowds for a few concerts overall. But at that moment, the vibe felt different than the rest.

The crowd’s energy was up, the feeling of belonging amongst them infectious as she made her way back toward Tommy. She felt hands brush against her waist and shoulders as she continued to walk through the crowd, lyrics coming from every direction as they all sang along with Oliver. It was hard not to get swept up in it all, to forget about why she was going to where she was going, and join in with them. She found that she wanted to stop, to scream along with them to songs she wasn’t even sure she knew the right lyrics too.

The song ended as she finally made it over to Tommy. He smiled up at her as he clapped along with the rest of the crowd. Felicity had a feeling, judging by the gleam in his eyes, that he was barely containing the urge to join in on the hollering and whooping as well.

“They are killing it,” he said as she sat down next to him, dipping his head closer to her ear as the crowd grew louder. “Whatever you did at that cabin, thank you.”

Felicity pursed her lips, her head turning to place her lips next to his ear. “I didn’t do anything. It was all Oliver. Maybe Thea.”

Tommy disagreed, his eyes giving away the disbelief he felt. “You aren’t giving yourself enough credit. Thea has been having the same conversation with him for two years. He didn’t seem interested in hearing it before.”

The unsaid ‘you’ hung between the two of them as Felicity reached across him to reach for his drink. She smelled the liquid, her nose turning up at the sharp smell of whiskey. “I don’t think you are giving him enough credit,” she shot back, her eyebrows lifting up as she tipped the glass back against her lips, the alcohol burning as she swallowed it.

The band began playing again, pulling Felicity’s attention from Tommy back to the stage. She recognized the song after the first few chords, it was one from their first album. It hadn’t been a big hit for the radio, but she remembered the underground popularity of it among their fans. It had been a near constant cover song at every party she had attended the year it came out. The opening notes constantly being strummed by whoever had a guitar until someone would start singing along, everyone else compelled to join in eventually.

The buildup of the song was amazing. The drums beat steadily in the background, Laurel playing the bass notes in such a steady and fierce momentum. Oliver was standing on the edge of the stage, spotlight on him, highlighting the way his face was glistening from the water and sweat. He was simply staring out into the crowd, his face almost emotionless, except for this heavy presence of peace coming from him. Felicity felt her heart stutter as Oliver finally began to sing, the words flowing out of him in a way that she wasn’t familiar with, but in a way that pulled right at her.

Nodding along with the beat, Felicity began singing softly under her breath, feeling just as caught up in the moment as the rest of the crowd. She closed her eyes, letting the sound of Oliver’s voice wash over her, the sound of the music vibrate throughout her body.

“I thought you weren’t a fan,” Tommy asked in amusement as Felicity stopped singing.

Felicity felt her face heat up, as she broke her gaze from the stage. “I wasn’t,” she answered immediately, almost defensively. “I mean, maybe I was? Before. I don’t—“ she paused, shaking her head at how awkward she sounded in this conversation. “It doesn’t really matter.”

Tommy didn’t say anything, a knowing look crossing his face. “Why’d you come back here, anyway? The monitor giving you problems again?”

“Oh no, the monitor’s fine.” She paused, waiting for the crowd to calm down some as the band finished the last few notes of the song. She could barely hear Oliver thank the crowd for the show over the noise of the cheering. She scooted her chair closer to Tommy, her lips brushing against his ear as she tried to gauge how loudly she needed to speak so that he could hear her, but not deafen him.

“John radioed me. I guess Oliver’s dad is here. He wanted me to tell you.”

Tommy pulled back, his eyes widening as he stood up. He appeared to be getting ready to move through the crowd, back toward the room Felicity had left before he paused, turning and focusing back on the stage. Felicity followed his gaze, an uneasy feeling settling into her stomach at Tommy’s reaction. They watched silently as Oliver held his hand up against the spot light, smiling widely as he told the crowd goodnight.

Felicity pulled her bottom lip through her teeth as Oliver walked off of the stage, turning her head back toward Tommy to ask what was going on.

But when she did, she found that he was already gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Felicity stood outside the door to the backstage room, twisting and tangling her fingers together as she debated whether or not she should enter. She hadn’t given much thought about leaving her key card and purse in the room before she had left to tell Tommy about Oliver’s dad. But now, with Tommy’s quick exit after she had told him, she was wondering if maybe having to stand in line at the hotel for a new key card would be worth it. She could always send the three of them a text message about her purse.

She sighed, shaking her head as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she was being ridiculous. She would walk in, grab her stuff, and leave. The unsettledness that had her stomach turning was just her overamplifying Tommy’s reaction. And the way John had sounded when he told her to go tell Tommy. Something was off about Robert Queen, she could sense that, but that didn’t explain or excuse her wariness of being in the same room as him.

Taking one last deep breath, Felicity pushed the door open, walking into the room and letting the door swing shut behind her.

“What did you expect Oliver, for Dad to show up suddenly approving of my life deci--” 

Felicity flinched slightly at the abrupt pause of Thea’s words as everyone in the room turned their attention to her. Her stomach twisted slightly as her mind confirmed that coming in here was a bad idea. She resisted the urge to close her eyes, to open the door and walk right back out. To mumble some apology and just exit, leave the family drama to those it belonged to and keep her nose out of it.

But she was already there and leaving wasn’t going to make the situation any less awkward. And it didn’t help that she was still unsure why any of this was setting off as many uncomfortable alarms as it was. Robert Queen was a mystery. One that she wanted to solve. 

“Management wasn’t lying about how soundproof the room was,” Felicity said, the joke falling flat as she shifted forward, swaying slightly as she remained still. She waited for some kind of response, from any of them, as she shifted her weight again, uncertainty bubbling inside of her as everyone continued to remain silent. “I probably could have knocked.”

Oliver finally moved forward, away from the back wall he and Tommy had been leaning against. He gave her a small, almost relieved, smile as he stopped next to Thea, who was sitting on a stool next to counter that had the video monitor and, concidently, her purse and key card.

“What do you need?” Oliver asked, the tone of his voice tight and tense as he began tapping his fingers against the side of the counter.

“Key card,” she answered, tilting her head toward where she had left the card next to the video monitor. “I forgot my key card. And my purse,” she added, moving closer to him and Thea. “Things I probably, well actually, things I do need. If I want to sleep or eat, and it’s almost two, and I should probably do both of those things,” she paused, closing her eyes as she shook her head. “I should also probably stop talking.”

Oliver laughed, the sound echoing around the room while he grabbed the card from the counter, holding it out to Felicity. “I know better than to keep you from food,” he teased.

Felicity looked at him, her eyes narrowing as she took the card from him. “You guys want to join?” She offered, making sure to look at both Tommy and Thea as she did, clearly trying to provide each of them an out. 

“So is that how you do it?” Robert asked, surprising Felicity with not only his words, but the venom behind them. 

“I’m sorry?” She asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she turned to look at him.

He looked different in person. She had seen numerous pictures of of him over the years in a few of her textbooks for business classes and her mother had always watched the press conferences he released for major Queen Consolidated news. He had always managed to appear as the epitome of control: hair in place, suit tailored to make him look more powerful, his voice calm and strong as he provided the press with just enough details to make them want more.

It seemed to be a Queen trait to leave everyone waiting for more.

But as she looked at him now, she realized just how much he must rely on a PR team to maintain that image of him. Because the man sitting in front of her looked nothing like the man her textbooks had described. Instead, she was faced with someone whose image looked like he belonged more on a magazine advertisement for what not to do with your life and not the CEO of a massive, international corporation.

Gone were the impressive suits, replaced with jeans and a rather wrinkled black button down shirt. His hair was far from the perfect, polished look he was known for, instead it was sticking out in certain places. 

“What exactly is it that you think I do?” Felicity asked, ignoring the look Oliver was giving her, the one she knew was him asking her to stop. 

Robert laughed then, placing his glass of scotch on the edge of the barstool in front of him. Felicity shuddered at the sound, overcome with a sensation of disgust as he looked at her, almost studying her.

“Don’t try and pretend that you aren’t the airhead that convinced my daughter that fashion was a good career choice.”

Felicity felt her chest expand as she took a deep breath, anger boiling in her stomach, and quickly spreading throughout the rest of her body as she maintained eye contact with him. “I’m the one who told her that she should do what she wants, what she is passionate about,” Felicity clarified, her voice demanding, leaving no room for question as she stepped toward Robert.

“Don’t,” Thea whispered, reaching out to grab on to Felicity’s hand. “Felicity, you should get out of here.”

Felicity turned around, shaking her head at Thea. “No, I don’t think so.” She squeezed Thea’s hand in a reassuring manner. “Not without you.”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Robert accused as he glared at Thea, interrupting her and Felicity’s conversation. He raised his eyebrow as he looked at Thea, his eyes daring her to argue with him. He tilted his head, breath coming out in a short huff, satisfaction rolling off of him as Thea remained silent. “That’s what I thought.”

“More like hoping.” Thea finally answered in defiance, her head tilting upward as she spoke, the small shake in her voice barely noticeable as she fixed her gaze on a small splotch of orange paint near the bottom of the wall behind Robert. “It’s not like you’ve the most observant father.”

“Thea,” Robert warned, his voice dropping. “Do you have any idea how much this little dalliance of yours is costing me?”

Thea laughed bitterly, shaking her head in disappointment. “Of course. That’s what this is about. Heaven forbid I do something that costs you money.” 

“You are destroying your future, Thea,” Robert’s voice boomed, echoing around the room. He stood quickly, the drink he had carelessly placed on the barstool next to him sloshing slightly from the momentum of his movement. 

Felicity flinched inwardly at the sound, thankful that she somehow had been able to maintain her poker face, as Robert took another step toward Thea. 

“Why,” Thea questioned, her hands pushing against the air in front of her chest as she backed away from her father. “Because I don’t want to be you? Because I don’t want to take over Queen Consolidated? There are worse things, Dad.”

“I will never understand how I managed to raise two of the most ungrateful children. That company is the only reason either of you have anything. Neither of you has ever had to work for anything.”

“Hey,” Oliver shouted, turning around to face his father again. He stepped in between him and Thea, his hands lifting up to put distance between his father. “You don’t get to talk to her that way.”

“I’m her father, Oliver. I can talk to my daughter however the hell I want,” Robert’s voice came out like a boom as he stepped forward, pushing against Oliver’s hands. Oliver stiffened as Robert came closer, the stench of alcohol rolling off him as he continued speaking, “I’m yours as well.”

“Yeah, you are. And you can talk to me however you want to. But not her.” Oliver looked over at Tommy, who was standing against the back of the room, arms folded as he looked between Robert and Thea. “Can you get her out of here man?” Oliver asked, directing the question toward Tommy, ignoring Thea protesting behind him.

Moving away from the wall, Tommy nodded as he walked over to Thea. “Come on, Thea,” Tommy started, his hand circling around her wrist. “We both know you don’t need to see this.”

“Oliver,” Thea cried. “I’m not five anymore, you can’t keep fighting my fights.”

“You’re my sister Thea,” Oliver said as if it was the most simple answer. He glanced behind him briefly, thankful to see Tommy leading her toward the door. “Your fights are my fights.”

Felicity remained frozen where she was as she watched Tommy lead Thea out of the room. It wasn't until the door was already swinging shut that she realized she probably should have gone with them. She took a small step toward the door, avoiding looking at Oliver or Robert as she did. She didn’t make it much further when Robert began talking again, the venom in his voice twisting at Felicity’s stomach as she stopped and turned back around to look at them.

“Always trying to be the hero,” Robert started, placing his hands flat on Oliver’s shoulder, pressing hard against him. “Protecting Thea from the company, from me. When are you going to realize that you aren’t the hero in that story Oliver? But the villain.”

Oliver remained still, his body tense underneath his father’s hands as he gave a small nod. “I don’t know what--”

“You don’t know,” Robert laughed dryly. “Hasn’t it occurred to you Oliver that I wouldn’t have to be so hard on her, if you hadn't been such a disappointment to begin with? If you would have just given up on this dream of being a…. well whatever this is, I wouldn’t need Thea. She would have been free to follow her dreams.”

“Why should either of us have to give up on our dreams? Just to continue some legacy that means fucking nothing--"

The sound of Robert hitting Oliver echoed around the room. Felicity’s eyes widened as she watched Robert shove Oliver against the wall. Her pulse rushed, the sound of her heart racing booming throughout her ears, leaving her unable to hear what Robert was saying.

Felicity’s senses began to come back slowly, allowing her to hear Robert laughing, honestly laughing, as he released Oliver. Stepping away from Oliver, picking his almost empty glass back up from where he had left it. Finishing it as if nothing had just happened, as if Oliver wasn’t slouched against the wall,a small trail of blood running down his face.

Tommy walked back into the room then, watching as Oliver reached up to hold his face. He flinched instinctively at the sight of his best friend, before stopping and standing behind Felicity. He reached his hand out, wrapping his fingers around her elbow tightly, tugging her back as she went to move toward Robert and Oliver, trying to tell her to stay.

Felicity turned her head to look at Tommy, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears as she shook her head, pulling against his grasp. 

“And you actually wonder why Thea and I want nothing to do with the company? Why we don’t want to become you,” Oliver asked his father, lowering his hands as he shook his head sadly. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Robert huffed, his nostrils flaring as he took another step forward, another step back toward Oliver.

“You need to leave,” Felicity spoke up from the corner, pulling free from Tommy’s grip as he tried to stop her from walking closer to Oliver and Robert. “Unless you want the world to know how the CEO of Queen Consolidated treats his children, you need to leave.”

“And who’s going to believe you,” Robert questioned, laughing at Felicity’s threat.

“No one would believe me,” Felicity said honestly, her eyes narrowing. “But I imagine a lot of people would believe the video footage.”

“The what?”

“Video footage. I’m making a documentary of Oliver. There’s numerous cameras here, recording all of this.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“No, I’m not,” Felicity said forcefully, lifting her shirt up slightly to show the wire from her microphone pack. “I don’t wear these willingly, rather uncomfortable. And like I said, you need to leave.”

Robert glanced at Oliver, shaking his head slowly, disappointment clearly etched on his face. “Letting a girl fight your--”

“Leave,” Felicity interrupted, her voice more forceful than it had been before as she stepped in front of Oliver. “Now.”

Robert’s eyes drifted over Felicity, as if he was sizing up her ability to carry out her threat. His eyes hardened briefly, the lines on his face becoming over emphasised as he let out a low sigh. And just like that, Felicity watched as his whole body seemed to change. The lines smoothed out of his face, his eyes softened and for a second he almost seemed friendly.

It was a horrifying process to watch. Instead of being in a room with Oliver’s father, Felicity became very aware that she was now in the room with the CEO of Queen Consolidated. The ever friendly, always willing to lend a hand, business man that the textbooks had him portrayed as.

“You don’t want to deal with the kind of lawsuits that will come your way if any of that so called footage gets out.” 

“And you don’t want to deal with the public backlash that you’ll face if it does. So leave.”

Robert didn’t say anything else, just continued to look at Felicity, until finally, surprising Felicity, he walked away. He didn’t look back, he didn’t say anything else, he simply walked out of the room without offering anything else.

Felicity let out a deep sigh as soon as the door was shut, her posture slipping as her nerves began to settle. She turned around, placing her hand on Oliver’s elbow, her eyes scanning over him to see where he was hurt.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her thumb rubbing small circles against his elbow.

He didn’t answer right away, giving Felicity enough time to see that the blood on his face was actually from a small cut across his cheekbone. Not from his nose, which was what Felicity had feared when she had first saw the blood. The cut was no longer bleeding and most of the blood was already drying against his skin. The side of his face was red, Felicity was pretty sure she could already see the beginning formation of a few bruises. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Oliver said, finally, his voice low, defeated. He moved away from her then, heading toward the door.

“Oliver,” Felicity turned toward him, shaking her head as he opened the door. “Oliver, where are you going?”

The only response she received was the door shutting as Oliver left the room.

Felicity turned to Tommy then, watching as he leaned back against the wall. “He likes to be alone after these things,” he tried to explain, his voice tired

“But he shouldn’t have to be,” Felicity responded. “And I’m going to go make sure he knows that.” 

Felicity stood outside of the door of the closet that Oliver had locked himself in. It had taken longer than she had expected to find him. The venue hadn’t seemed overly large, but it had a lot of random small rooms that he could have slipped into. She had ended up in the security room, asking the relatively unenthusiastic security guard if he had seen where Oliver had ended up. It took five minutes of explaining that she was a part of the band’s crew, and really, truly, not a random girl trying to get five minutes with Oliver Queen before he gave up the location.

She really needed a business card if she was going to have to keep asking for things that involved Oliver. 

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she made her decision. Lifting her shirt up, she carefully peeled away the wire that was connected to her microphone, followed by the box that was clipped to the back of her jeans. She knocked on the door. “Oliver, it’s Felicity. Open the door.”

“Seriously, Oliver. Open the door,” she repeated, her knuckles rapping against the door continuously, but with no rhythm or pattern. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.” Felicity paused, her nose scrunching up at the way those words sounded. “Actually, you shouldn’t have to be alone right now. If you want to be, that’s your choice. But I’m here if you don’t want to be.”

“The door isn’t locked,” Oliver’s voice travelled through the closed door.

Felicity glanced down at the handle, shaking her head. Of course the door wasn’t locked. She pushed the handle down, opening the door and walking in. Shutting the door behind her, she had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room before she could make out more of Oliver than just an outline against the back wall.

He looked a lot better than the last time she had seen him. He was still wearing his Arrow stage outfit, but the jacket was open, the little amount of moonlight from the small window in the room reflecting against the zippers of the jacket. She stepped closer to him, her hands reaching out to release the wires and microphone box from him. 

He looked down at her, his eyes squinting in confusion as she finished removing the equipment. Silently she walked back over to the door, opening it and placing the equipment next to hers on the ground. When she began walking back over to him, she could make out what looked like a small bruise against the side of his face. Her hand reached out to brush against it as she stood in front of him.

“You know, when they say chicks dig bad boys, they really meant chicks dig bad boys in theory.” Felicity ran her finger down his jaw, lifting his head up slightly to look for any other visible damage from the fight earlier. “Because let me tell you, you look much better without all the bruising.”

Oliver laughed, his head shaking against her fingers. “I knew you thought I was cute,” he teased, his voice playful, even if his smile seemed forced.

“Normally I would argue about this, but you look like you could use the ego boost.”

“I appreciate it.”

They remained silent after Oliver’s words. Felicity sat down, leaning back against the wall. She smiled at Oliver as he followed her, sitting down next to her. She bumped her shoulder against his, savoring the small smile he gave her for her efforts. 

“So,” Oliver said breaking the silence. “Did you draw the short straw?”

“Volunteered,” Felicity answered. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Oliver. There’s no reason you should be alone right now.”

“Oh, but everything I do is wrong, Felicity,” Oliver said, his voice void of the sarcasm she had expected. He looked away from her then, but not before Felicity could see the seriousness in his eyes. “You heard him. You just haven’t known me long enough to know this.”

“Stop that,” Felicity demanded, her eyes narrowing as she moved to sit in front of him. She placed her hands underneath his head, using her fingers to lift his chin up until he was looking at her. “You are not some all supreme evil being Oliver. You deciding to not run a company does not make you a bad person. You aren’t the reason your father is, well, who he is. You may have made mistakes and you’ll probably make more,” she paused, watching as he tried to duck his head back down, avoiding her eyes. She waited until he stopped fidgeting before she moved her head to line with his, locking her eyes with his again. “You’re human. How exactly do you think you are supposed to be?”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be,” Oliver said, huffing slightly as he closed his eyes. “But I know that I don’t want to be him,” he finished, opening his eyes and looking at her just long enough for Felicity to notice the unshed tears building up before he looked away again.

“Then don’t be,” Felicity said, as if the answer could actually be something so simple. Her fingers hovered next to his jaw, brushing against the barely-there stubble “You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“But what if it is?”

Oliver laughed without humor, his voice dry as he spoke, “Then I’ve spent a lot of years doing things the hard way.”

Felicity’s laughter was full of humor and light as she shook her head. “Does that really surprise you? You don’t exactly seem like the kind of guy that takes the easy route. Ever.”

Oliver smiled, nodding at her in agreement. “Some might say I take the long way.”

Felicity returned his smile, her nose scrunching up. She laughed as her stomach made a loud noise, protesting how long it had been since Felicity had eaten.

“Well, as it turns out, I’m still hungry,” Felicity said with a shrug, standing up from the floor. “Want to go with me to get food?” She asked, holding her hand out for him.

Oliver looked at her for a moment, considering her offer. He nodded before standing up and taking her hand, letting Felicity lead him out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Felicity practically sprang from the bus as it came to a full stop in front of the mostly empty gas station. She smiled at the rush of wind that greeted her as she hopped to the ground, heading straight for the small grassy area on the side of the building. She laid on the ground, enjoying the way the sun beat down on her, forcing her to close her eyes and to enjoy the small bit of nature surrounding her.

As it turned out, spending twenty four hours straight on a bus was more than Felicity was prepared to handle. Oliver had complained to her about Tommy’s show scheduling skills early on, but it had been something that Felicity had blown off as Oliver just needing something to complain about. She had seen the tour list, no locations or dates had seemed that far away from one another. 

Tommy really wasn’t that awful at scheduling tour dates. Tommy was, however, awful at predicting when Oliver would wind up in jail and need to take a break to run away to the woods for a week. The rescheduling Tommy was forced to do was the real reason they had been in a bus for so long. Omaha, Nebraska wasn’t exactly next door to New York. And after the Omaha show, they were in for another long ride to Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Which was why Felicity was determined to enjoy every minute outside of the tour bus that she had. She stretched her arms above her, digging her fingers into the dirt slightly before crossing them underneath her head as a makeshift pillow. Nobody was going to get her to move from her spot for at least fifteen minutes without a fight. 

She groaned as a shadow fell over her, her body instantly missing the heat from the sunlight. Opening her eyes, she wasn’t really surprised to see Oliver towering over her. He smiled at her once she opened her eyes, holding his hand out for her. She returned his smile with a playful glare, clicking her tongue before she closed her eyes again.

“You’re blocking my sunlight,” she complained. “And I’m not getting back on the bus for another thirteen minutes.”

Oliver laughed, shaking his head. “Tommy says we are on a tight schedule and something about not messing around at any of our stops.”

“Yeah, I know. Which is why I haven’t gotten off of that damn bus for a whole day.” She opened her eyes, sitting up slightly so she could scoot out of Oliver’s shadow. “A day, Oliver.” She shook her head as she laid back down. “Tommy is on the other bus. They can leave without us.”

“The show is in two hours Felicity.”

“Don’t you have a reputation to maintain? And without the drinking and the fighting… do you really think now is when you should add timely to your resume?”

Oliver sighed, smiling as he sat down next to her. “You’re probably right.”

Felicity shrugged, a small smile on her face. “Normally am.”

“When Tommy finds us, I’m blaming you.”

“Right,” Felicity said with a snort. “Like he’s going to believe that.”

They fell into an easy, comfortable silence after that. The kind that still surprised Felicity. It didn’t seem like very long ago that any moment with Oliver was charged and difficult to get through, always ending with Felicity being frustrated or angry with his behavior. But now, lying next to him on the grass in the middle of nowhere Iowa, Felicity had a hard time piecing together that Oliver with the one next to her.

She knew that he was still the same person. He still said and did many of the same things that he did at the beginning of the tour, but the actions felt different to her. She wasn’t sure if the difference was really between drunk Oliver and sober Oliver, or if her view of Oliver had changed significantly enough that she just interpreted his words differently.

Either way, she was grateful for the change. Tommy had asked her to show the world the real Oliver Queen, and she was beginning to see who he had meant. 

“There you two are,” Laurel said, pulling Felicity from her thoughts. “Tommy says we need to go.”

“Has it been thirteen minutes?” Felicity asked Oliver, turning her head to the side to look at him. “I don’t feel like it’s been thirteen minutes.”

Oliver shook his head before responding, “Definitely no more than five.”

“Sorry, Laurel,” Felicity said, looking back at her. “I am glued to this spot for another eight minutes”

Laurel laughed, looking behind her to see if she could see Tommy. She looked back down at them, tilting her head to the side.

“Mind if I join you guys then?” She asked, not waiting for either of them to answer before sitting down.

“The more the merrier,” Felicity replied, smiling as Laurel placed her head to the side of Felicity’s stomach. “Besides, Tommy definitely can’t carry all three of us.”

“Did you really think Tommy could carry the two of us?” Oliver asked.

“I figured it’d be a good test of his upper body strength,” Felicity said, smiling as Laurel started laughing. “So, how’s life on the other bus, Laurel?”

“Crowded,” Laurel quickly answered before taking a deeper breath, her eyes narrowing as she continued, “I was actually… I was thinking maybe I’d start spending more time over with you. Being the only girl on that bus is getting kind of old.” 

Laurel paused then, pursing her lips as she picked at the grass. “And if we’re going to work on being a band again, it might be a good idea to actually act like a band.”

Oliver snorted. “According to Felicity, there’s not enough room on that bus for my ego, her, and Thea as it is--”

“That’s Oliver’s way of saying, yes, you guys need to start acting like a band,” Felicity interrupted, rolling her eyes before glaring in Oliver’s direction. “Oliver’s ego can always be deflated.”

“She’s just saying that because I keep winning all of the board games.”

“You can always go on the other bus Oliver,” Laurel said, smiling at Felicity. “I think a boy’s bus and a girl’s bus makes more sense anyway.”

“Yes!” Felicity agreed, laughing as Oliver groaned. “I’ll start packing his stuff up. The three of us could probably just share his room. Get out of those claustrophobic bunks.”

“Actually,” Oliver said, glancing over at Felicity. “Thea mentioned spending more time with Roy. I think she’s planning on staying on that bus for at least a few days.”

“Wasn’t her not doing that rule one of her staying on the tour?” Laurel asked.

“I’ve been reminded many, many times that my rules for her staying on this tour were abolished as soon as I got arrested.” Oliver paused, his fingers drumming against the ground. “Besides, with everything that happened with our dad... if Roy helps support her, well, he helps. It’s not my job to tell her that she doesn’t deserve that.”

“Good,” Felicity said. “I mean, Laurel and I can definitely share your room. This works out well for everyone.”

“Everyone but me, maybe,” Oliver joked.

Laurel hummed her agreement with Felicity, ignoring Oliver. “So, you want to pack your own bags Oliver? Or should Felicity and I just do it for you?”

“Or,” Tommy said, interrupting their conversation, his hands pressing against his hips as he glanced down at the three of them. “You all could continue to lay on the grass, just skip the show we are already late for, I can cancel the tour, which is starting to sound like the more economically rational decision. Given how off schedule we already are--”

“You have got to calm down Tommy,” Laurel said, lifting her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun so she could look up at him. “We aren’t going to be late.”

“Aren’t going to be,” Tommy stopped, laughing to himself as he raised a hand to press against his temple. “Laurel, we are already late. Sound check, setting up the stage, these things needed to be done hours ago.”

“Exactly, Tommy,” Oliver started, sitting up to stare at his friend. “Hours ago. We were never going to make it on time. Cut us, hell, cut yourself some slack.

“I think I’ve cut you enough slack,” Tommy responded, his voice void of emotion as he returned Oliver’s stare. “Don’t you?”

Oliver nodded slowly, pushing himself off of the ground. “I’m going to go back to the bus. I think you’ve still got another three minutes, Felicity.”

Felicity sighed as she sat up, watching Oliver walk away.

“What happened to being a band again, Tommy?” Felicity asked after Oliver disappeared from her sight.

Tommy sighed, digging his hands into his front pockets. “We should get going,” he said, deciding to completely ignore Felicity’s question. 

“Why don’t you go with Oliver? Felicity and I can head into town with the others.” Laurel offered, standing up and brushing the loose grass off of her pants. “You guys clearly need to talk things out still.”

“Are you really defending him right now Laurel?” Tommy asked, his breath catching in his throat as he looked down at her in surprise, disappointment spreading across his face slowly as he waited for her answer.

“No. I’m not, Tommy. But you said it yourself, we either are going to move past things and grow as a band, or we are going to go our separate ways,” Laurel said, her voice gentle as she reminded Tommy. She reached forward, grabbing onto Tommy’s elbow. “I’m willing to give Oliver another chance. I want, I want to try at least.”

She squeezed gently before removing it from his arm. “You asked Roy and I what we wanted to do, but nobody ever asked you Tommy. You need to make a choice too.”

Tommy stared down at the ground, his eyes burning as he nodded. Eventually, he looked up, his eyes finding Laurel’s. “He’s my best friend Laurel. I want to try. I do, but I’m angry. I am really, really angry with him.”

“Good,” Laurel said, holding her hand out to help Felicity stand up. “Then be angry at him. And then move on.” She nodded her head toward the building that was blocking the view of the busses. “We’ll leave you two alone.”

Tommy shook his head, tilting his head back as he sighed. “I sent the bus with the others ahead. I was hoping Barry and Roy might be able to get everything set up. Make sure the opening acts at least hit the stage on time.”

“Well,” Felicity said, shrugging a little as she gave Tommy a small smile. “Maybe that’s for the best. Laurel and I can be mediators. Make sure the conversation is civilized.”

Tommy huffed, his face almost expressionless. “Let’s just get through the show tonight. I’ll talk to him,” he added as Laurel began to protest. “Just not… not tonight. I need to focus on the show.”

Laurel gave Tommy a disappointed look as she shook her head. “If you say so.”

Oliver was sitting on one of the couches in the bus when they walked in, headphones in his ears, notepad somehow remaining balanced on his knee as he moved the notebook so that he could write on it.

Felicity was surprised that he wasn’t back in his room, given the way he had stormed off after talking with Tommy. The other bus would have already been gone when Oliver walked away, so Oliver would have known that Tommy was going to be on this bus. Which meant he was purposefully placing himself in Tommy’s way, and judging by the way Oliver kept his gaze on the pages in front of him, refusing to acknowledge that they had walked in, Felicity was fairly positive that he was waiting for the fight with Tommy to happen.

The bus began moving as Felicity walked past where Tommy was still standing by the counter, his eyes seemingly glued on Oliver, and grabbed a water bottle for her and Laurel. She looked at Laurel before nodding her head toward the table.

“Cards?” Felicity asked Laurel as she moved toward the table, sitting down on the bench and grabbing the deck of cards before Laurel answered.

“Yeah,” Laurel answered, sliding into the bench across from Felicity. “Maybe we’ll even get a show,” she whispered, raising her eyebrows as she looked over at Tommy.

“I don’t know, Laurel,” Felicity began as she started to shuffle the deck of cards. “That would require the two of them to talk about their feelings, like grownups, at the same time.”

“I can hear the two of you, you know,” Tommy said, glaring in their direction. “Hell, Oliver can probably hear you.”

He shook his head as Laurel and Felicity smiled at him, both of them shrugging before they returned their focus to shuffling the playing cards and moving the other board games out of the way. He sat down next to Oliver on the couch then, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make out the words Oliver had been writing down, but Oliver pulled the notebook closer toward him, making it impossible for Tommy to make out any of the letters, let alone words.

“So,” Felicity said as she placed the cards down in front of Laurel. “Poker or Go Fish?”

Laurel tilted her head, her fingers tapping against the cards as she contemplated her options. “How about Golf or Crazy Eights?” 

Felicity nodded slowly, smiling at Laurel. “Rummy it is.” 

Laurel laughed, shaking her head as Felicity began to deal the cards.

They played the first few rounds in complete silence, the sounds from the bus bringing an almost peaceful calm to the tension.

“Has he been writing a lot lately?” Laurel asked as Felicity picked up the discard pile.

Felicity didn’t answer at first, her eyes flickering across the cards she had picked up before she began to rearrange them for play. 

“He has,” Felicity finally answered as she began to place her cards down on the table. “At least I’ve been noticing it more. He’s had that notebook out since we started the drive to New York.”

She shrugged as she decided on a card to discard. “That’s not really saying much though,” Felicity continued after she placed a card down. “Before the break he spent most of his time in his room. So, maybe he did a lot of writing then too.”

“Oh I doubt it,” Laurel said, turning her head to look at Oliver. She looked back at Felicity, a small smile on her face. “I haven’t seen Oliver write in a year. Maybe longer.”

“Definitely longer,” Tommy added, glancing over at Laurel. “I was thinking almost two. The last album was mostly you and Roy, and a few songs Oliver had written before.”

Oliver looked up from the notebook, his eyes meeting Tommy’s as he pulled his earphones out. “What can I say,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Apparently fighting with my best friend brings out a real need to write some angsty lyrics.”

Felicity watched from where she was sitting as Tommy’s body tensed, his hands clenching and unclenching.

She watched as Tommy’s plan to hold off on his conversation with Oliver disintegrated in less than thirty-two miles. 

“Oh fuck you,” Tommy said, his voice sharp and harsh as he stared at Oliver in disbelief. “If that were true, you would have been writing angsty song lyrics a year ago.”

“A year--a year ago?” Oliver asked, the pen in his hand dropping to the floor as he turned his body toward Tommy. “I thought we were fine until recently. And you are going to sit there and tell me that we haven’t been fine for a year.”

“Fine, Oliver?” Tommy said in disbelief. “How deluded are you to think you could describe any friendship or relationship of yours in the last year or two as fine.”

“Don’t do that. You don’t get to sit there and pretend like this is all my fault.”

“Who’s fault do you think it is Oliver?” Tommy questioned, his voice harsh as he stared at Oliver in disbelief that he could actually be trying to blame Tommy for any of their issues.

“I’ll own my part. But you don’t get off free in this Tommy,” Oliver said with force as he closed his eyes. “Lifelong friendships don't just come to a screeching halt because of one person’s actions.”

“They do when that one person’s actions include four assault charges, no less than ten cancelled concert dates, and an endless amount of memory-free drunken nights.” Tommy listed in a matter-of-fact tone, tapping one of his fingers against his hand to punctuate each action.

“Don’t do that,” Oliver argued, “I get why you are pissed off at me as my manager, but you don’t get to sit there and pretend like I’m just a product to you.”

Oliver sighed, tilting his head down as he pressed his fingers against the side of his head. “Besides,” he continued after a moment, looking back up to meet Tommy’s gaze. “I don't know how many times you want me to apologize for all of that,” he paused, looking back up at Tommy before continuing, “But I am fucking sorry. Okay?”

“No, Ollie, not okay.” Tommy stood up, walking over to lean against the edge of the counter, careful to avoid Felicity and Laurel’s glances. “You don’t get to just apologize and have this all swept under a rug. That is what we have always done, and you know what, I’m sick of it. I am so tired of hearing you say I’m sorry when I know that you aren’t going to do a damn thing to change.”

“I am trying, Tommy,” Oliver said, desperately trying to get Tommy to believe him, to acknowledge his actions. “And I get that I didn't before. And that I keep letting you down. I get it. I do, okay? What I don’t get is why you are giving up on me now. The other day with my dad...” Oliver let his sentence trail off, shaking his head sadly. “You’re my best friend, Tommy. But I don’t know what I can do to make you believe that I am trying.”

Tommy didn't respond. He looked down at the ground, his breathing coming out in short, heavy puffs as he avoided moving the conversation forward. 

Oliver shook his head, trying to hide his disappointment from showing on his face as he stood. “But I am trying,” he repeated, nodding to himself. “And I am going to keep trying… for myself. So, who knows, maybe that'll make the difference this time.”

Tommy lifted his head then, watching as Oliver began to walk past him and down the short hallway to his room at the back of the bus.

“Hey, Ollie?” Tommy said just before Oliver went to close his door. “Maybe it will. Make a difference,” he continued, smiling at his friend while tilting his head up. “I hope it does anyway.”

The rest of the drive to Omaha passed quickly once Oliver and Tommy’s conversation was finished. Oliver remained in his room until after the bus was stopped and empty. Felicity didn’t see Tommy and Oliver so much as acknowledge each other until after the show was over when Tommy gave Oliver a small wave before walking out of the building.

Felicity walked closely behind Oliver as they exited the venue, her body still tingling from the excitement and energy from the show. The appeal of being in a band, or even just attending concerts, had never been major for her growing up. But now, after experiencing more shows and feeling the buzz that comes with them, she was starting to see the appeal.

“I think you might be catching the bug,” Oliver said, his voice giving away that he was smiling even though Felicity couldn’t see his face.

“Maybe,” Felicity responded, tilting her head to the side as she did. “You guys sounded really good tonight.”

Oliver gave a dry laugh, turning his head to look at the other bus. “It feels different up there. Maybe it’s just me actually being able to remember the words. I think Tommy kept mentioning how that would be a good first step to not sucking again.”

Felicity shook her head, reaching forward to grab onto Oliver’s elbow. She waited for him to stop and look at her before speaking, “Or maybe it’s because you are finally starting to act like a band again. All of you. Team effort.”

Oliver gave her a tight, almost forced smile. “Who knows, maybe by the end of the tour it won’t be just you and I on one bus.”

He turned around then, continuing to walk to the bus that was waiting for them.

Felicity sighed, looking up in time to see Tommy close the door to the other bus. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, the wind cold as it pushed passed her. 

“I’m not even sure how they are all staying on that bus,” she pointed out, trying to lighten the subject.

“I mean,” she continued, “It just seems kind of ridiculous when we have so much room.”

Oliver laughed, shrugging as he opened the door, holding it for her. “You’re just worried about being left alone with me,” he teased. 

“Oh yeah,” Felicity responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes, her fingers digging deeper into her jacket pockets as she climbed up the steps. “I just don’t know how I am going to resist you.”

Oliver laughed dryly as he shut the door behind him. 

“Did you mean what you said earlier?” Oliver asked.

“Huh?” Felicity asked, her eyebrows pushed together as she thought about the things they had talked about recently, failing to come up with anything that would match the almost concerned tone in his voice. She turned around to face him, her breath catching in her throat as her body came into contact with his.

She laughed nervously, shaking her head at herself, hoping that it wasn't obvious to him how flustered she was feeling.

“When you mentioned feeling claustrophobic in the bunks,” Oliver clarified while Felicity took a step back from him.

“Oh,” Felicity explained, her eyes widening in understanding. “Yeah. I guess I'm just not used to the… smallness of the bus.”

Reaching forward, Oliver squeezed Felicity's shoulder while giving her a small smile. “You can sleep in my room, if it'll help. I've had plenty of time to get used to sleeping in small spaces.”

Felicity looked down, watching as Oliver let his hand fall from hey shoulder, his fingers brushing against the top part of her arm before landing back against his side. She kept her head down as she shook it slowly, her face heating up as she did so. “I'm not kicking you out of your room, Oliver. I'll be fine.”

“If you change your mind…” Oliver let his sentence trail off as Felicity looked back up at him, giving him an understanding smile.

“I'll let you know,” Felicity replied with a nod. “I was actually thinking since it's just us, I'll just leave the curtain open. That'll probably work.”

Oliver gave her a look of disbelief, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, Felicity watched as he walked toward the sink, reaching into the small refrigerator and grabbing a water bottle filled with a mysterious dark liquid Oliver seemed to drink after a show inside of it. 

“What is that stuff anyway?” Felicity asked.

Oliver shrugged as he removed the lid, taking a large drink before responding. “I have no idea. Tommy has me drink it. I never questioned it.”

Oliver held the bottle out to her, trying to shake it in an enticing way. “Want to try some?”

Felicity scrunched her nose as she laughed lightly. “I think I'll pass.”

“I, uh, I think I'm going to head to bed actually,” Felicity continued, tilting her head toward the bunks. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Felicity,” Oliver said a he took another drink, watching as Felicity climbed into her bunk. 

“Good night, Oliver,” Felicity responded as she lay her head on her pillow. She sighed, her fingers grasping the curtain, hesitating to pull it shut. 

She removed her hand, leaving the curtain open as she placed her hands over her stomach. Shutting her eyes, she listened as Oliver moved around the main area, placing the water bottle in what sounded like the trash can.

She heard him walk past her and into his room. She waited to hear him shut the door, but the sound never came. Peeking her head out from the bunk, a small smile spread over her face as she saw the open door.

She moved her head back, her head flattening her pillow as she turned her head to the side. Her eyes fluttered shut again, her breathing becoming purposefully shallower as she tried to lull herself to sleep. The bus was mostly insulated from the sounds of the road, but Felicity could still make out the wind pushing against the sides, the steady hum of the tires rubbing against the road. 

She rolled onto her side so that she was facing the openness of her bunk instead of the wall. Letting her hand dangle down the side, she tapped her fingers against the piece of plastic they were brushing against in a steady rhythm.

And she waited. Eyes open and glued to the wall of the empty bunk across from her, she waited. Waited for sleep to fall over her. Waited for the walls to move in closer. Waited for some strange road sound to pull out from the hazy almost sleep she might find herself in.

She simply waited. Until she couldn't tell if the increase in her breaths was because she was anxious or some subconscious trick she was trying out to induce sleep by passing out.

She closed her eyes, slowly counting down in her head from ten, attempting to regulate her breathing.

“Hey, Oliver?” Felicity said after she managed to steady herself, her voice raised enough to travel clearly to him.

“Yeah, Felicity?” He responded roughly, his voice heavy.

“What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?” She asked, biting down on her lip after she spoke, grimacing at the awkwardness of her question.

“My favorite ice cream?” Oliver said, returning her question, amusement clear in his voice. “Why do you want to know my favorite kind of ice cream, Felicity?”

Felicity didn’t respond at first, letting his question really wash over her as she contemplated her answer. She could tell him it was for the documentary, what girl wouldn’t want to know what kind of ice cream Oliver Queen liked the most. Her question could be nothing more than the start of a random interview to get more information about him, small details to show the world a different side of him.

Or she could tell him the truth.

“Because it’s something I don’t know?” Felicity started, rolling her eyes at how unsure she sounded. “I guess I just… I’ve gotten to know you in such a backwards way. I could probably list a lot of big things that make up who you are, your relationship with your dad, your drinking, your friendship with Tommy… big things that I feel like I at least sort of have a grasp on. It’s the day-to-day things, the smaller details about you that I feel like I’m missing. Things like your favorite kind of ice cream.”

She paused then, wondering if anything she had said made any sense. She waited for Oliver to say something, but found only silence.

“I guess,” she continued, her voice less steady than it had been before. “I want to know those things too.”

Felicity twisted her fingers together nervously as she waited for Oliver to respond. She was about to mention the cameras and the film, hoping that it would provide her some sort of relief from the embarrassment she could feel sweeping over her, when Oliver finally responded.

“It’s, uh, mint chocolate chip. Actually, I would kill for some right now.”

“That sounds really good. If I wake up whenever we stop for gas, I’ll grab some. It’s my favorite too.”

“I’m not supposed to eat ice cream while touring. Tommy put it on the don’t do this list.”

“Tommy gave you a don’t do this list?”

“Yeah.”

Felicity laughed softly to herself, shaking her head. “Oliver, up until recently, how well did you abide by that list?”

Oliver was silent for a moment, and Felicity could perfectly envision him mentally going through the list in his mind before he answered, “Probably just the ice cream one.”

“Yeah. I’m definitely buying us some.”

“It’s not like ice cream is likely to be the final nail in our friendship coffin,” Oliver said, his words too strained to successfully pull off the aloofness Felicity could tell he was aiming for.

She closed her mouth before she could respond, her teeth digging into her lip. Oliver didn’t need to have another conversation about Tommy, to be reminded yet again of the relationships he had damaged.

She considered her options, toying between giving in to the bait and talking about Tommy or letting the conversation slide and end. Leaving her alone in her bunk with nothing but the sounds of the road she had been trying to silence.

Or she could ask another question.

“So, why the Green Arrow? Why not… the Purple Arrow?”

Oliver chuckled quietly, so low that Felicity almost missed the sound.

“Hey, Felicity?” He asked, his voice softer than it had been before.

“Hey, Oliver?” Felicity said in return, trying to ignore the way her stomach seemed to twist in nerves from the subtle change in Oliver’s voice.

“I know you’re trying to distract yourself, and I am more than okay with helping you out by answering ridiculous questions. But do you think you could come in here? My throat isn’t exactly appreciating the half-shouting to be heard aspect of all this.”

Felicity rolled her eyes as her cheeks heated up. She swung her legs over the side of her bunk, shaking her head to herself even as she started walking toward the back of the bus.

Leaning against the doorframe, her eyebrows furrowed as she took in his empty bed. She frowned as she let her eyes roam around his room, spotting his feet poking out from the far side of his bed. She sighed as she walked into the room, she sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, before moving until she was lying flat on her stomach across his bed. 

She propped her head up on her hand as she peered over the side of the bed. He was spread out across the floor, his hands folded across his stomach, his eyes shut as he smiled. Her eyes narrowed at the smugness of the smile. 

She bit down on her bottom lip as she debated what she should say or do next.

“So, Purple Arrow?”

Oliver’s smile grew as he answered. “Because green leather is so much easier to find than purple.”

Felicity chucked as she rolled over to lay on her back. “You don’t have to stay down there.”

“I don't want you to feel uncomfortable,” Oliver explained with a small shrug of his shoulders as he brushed off her complaint. “Besides, it's surprisingly comfortable down here.”

“If it's so comfortable, why don't we switch?”

Felicity smiled to herself, closing her eyes as she heard Oliver sigh. The bed dipped next to her from Oliver's weight a few moments later, she tilted her head to the side, opening her eyes to look at him.

“Don't think I'm buying that you named your band because purple is a hard color of leather to find. Green can't be all that easy either.”

Oliver returned her smile with ease as he looked at her. “Laurel came up with the idea of having stage names that were kind of--”

“Comic booky?” Felicity asked as she interrupted him, her tone almost teasing.

“Yeah,” he answered, his head dipping down to his chest as he laughed. “Green was one of Thea’s favorite colors back then, she designed the first version of the stage outfit. And there's the real story of how I became the Green Arrow and not the Purple Arrow.”

Felicity laughed, her eyes fluttering shut as she yawned. “You're a pretty good brother. Letting her design that for you.”

“She did threaten to make the whole outfit yellow if I didn't stop bugging her about it when she first started sketching the designs. I was terrified she and Laurel were going to have my stage name be Big Bird.”

Felicity didn't say anything after that, her breathing evening out as Oliver watched her begin to fall asleep. Oliver rolled over to his side, pressing his elbow into the mattress to rest his head on his palm as he looked down at her. There was a peace that seemed to spread over her with each breath that she took that Oliver was afraid of disrupting.

One that he couldn’t quite wrap his head around that she was capable of achieving with him in the same room.

“Felicity?” He asked, running his hand along her arm. “You got any more questions for me before you fall asleep?”

“Hmm?” Felicity mumbled in response, her nose crinkling as she tried to focus on what he was asking. “I'm not sleeping,” she argued, frustrated with how heavy her voice sounded. “Favorite memory?”

Felicity tried to open her eyes back up, to pay attention to Oliver's answer. But whatever answer Oliver gave her was muffled and lost as she completely gave in to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know it’s been a very, very long time since my last update. And I have no idea when the next update will be ready, but I do know that one day, eventually, I will finish this story. And in the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy the update.

“Laurel said that Tommy is booking us rooms in Charleston,” Felicity said, her eyes narrowing as she looked up from her cards.

“Yeah?” Oliver responded, his eyes never wavering from his cards. His finger tapped against the edge of one of the cards, his lips barely pursing before he looked up at her.

Felicity perked up, sitting up straighter while she looked down to reevaluate her cards. They had been playing cards for five hours. They had played countless times before. And that small movement was the first time Felicity had caught a sign that he might not have the hand he wants.

“Don’t get too excited,” Oliver said with a small laugh. “I’m getting bored. I still have this hand.”

“Guess we’ll see--” Felicity started, as she drew her final card. She sighed as she slid the card into her hand, lowering her shoulders as she stared at the mess that was her cards. Even if Oliver didn’t have the hand he wanted, it still had to be better than hers.

Oliver grabbed her discarded card, pulling it back on the table toward him, before setting down his other cards. Felicity frowned as she did the same, glancing back and forth from her cards to his.

“Oliver?” Felicity asked, biting down on her lip to keep from laughing. “What game are we playing?”

“Pok--” Oliver started, pausing as he looked down at the table. “I took your discard. What game am I playing?”

“Hence my question.” Felicity teased, laughing as she combined the cards on the table into one group. “Maybe it’s time for a break from cards.”

Oliver leaned back against his chair, resting his hands behind his head as he watched her put the cards away. “How long has it been since we’ve slept off the bus?”

“Weeks,” Felicity answered just as he finished his question. “I’m going to take the world’s hottest bubble bath tonight.”

“I’m serious about not getting your hopes up,” Oliver warned, shaking his head. “The next show is in Texas, which is a bit of a drive from South Carolina. Tommy can still change his mind.”

Felicity groaned, glaring at Oliver as she stretched back in her seat. “You are going to jinx this. I don't think you understand how badly I need to bathe in a setting more private than a truck stop shower.”

“Life on the road not as glamorous as you thought?”

“Definitely not,” Felicity agreed, her fingers drumming against the table as she looked at Oliver. “I imagined more hotels, fancy showers and comfy beds.”

“My bed not comfortable enough for you?” Oliver teased, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he laughed.

“Your bed is just fine,” Felicity said, closing her eyes as she blushed. She wasn’t sure what was worse: her blushing or Oliver actually snorting at what she had said.

“I mean,” Felicity started, opening her eyes to glare at Oliver. “It could be better.”

“Yeah?” Oliver asked, raising his eyebrow. “How so?”

“Without you. Obviously,” Felicity said with a nod. “For someone who could be a human heater, you are a massive blanket hog. Plus you snore.”

“I offered to sleep in one of the bunks,” Oliver defended, shrugging his shoulders. “And I don’t snore.”

“You know there are numerous microphones on this bus right? I have _hours_ of evidence of you snoring at this point.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “I can just see the headlines for your documentary now: ‘things you never expected to know about Oliver Queen: he snores.’”

“Loudly,” Felicity added, smiling as her phone chirped.

She glanced down, sliding her finger across the screen to read the message.

**Laurel** : _Between Tommy brooding and Roy and Thea’s nonstop heart eyes, I think I need to switch busses._

**Laurel:** _Unless Oliver is being broody. We need a brood free zone._

**Felicity:** _Join us. I’m planning how I’m going to spend the night in charleston._

**Felicity:** _Oliver is being a killjoy._

**Laurel:** _I mean, you know the chances of us actually staying aren’t that great?_

Felicity glared at her phone, shaking her head.

“We are staying in Charleston,” Felicity said out loud, her eyes narrowed as she typed the words to Laurel.

“Wanna bet?”

Felicity sighed, rolling her eyes as she read the newest message from Laurel.

**Laurel:** _Wanna bet?_

“You are both ridiculous,” Felicity said, laughing, picking up her phone to show Oliver the message.

“It wasn’t always just Laurel and Roy that ran the prank/bet wars on tours,” Oliver pointed out, shrugging as he tapped his fingers against the table.

Felicity set her phone back down, tilting her head as she studied Oliver.

He had been more open with her over the last few days, but it still took her by surprise at how effortless it appeared for him.

It wasn’t that long ago that she was counting down the days until the tour was over. Partly because she wasn’t sure how she could ever see the softer sides of Oliver that Tommy believed existed. But mostly it had been because she couldn’t actually stand the idea of Oliver, let alone the reality of him.  

Tommy had been right though. There was a completely different side to Oliver. And now that he was showing it to her, Felicity found herself struggling to remember that she was here for a job, and that there was a more than likely chance that once the tour ended she wouldn’t be a part of Oliver’s life.

Of any of their lives, really.

“Do you miss it?” She asked, clearing her throat as she picked up the glass in front of her.

“The bets?” He asked, nodding his head. “There were some pretty great ones.”

Felicity shook her head, scrunching her nose as she looked at him. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah,” Oliver replied, glancing down at the table. “I do. I miss being a part of the group. I miss being a friend.”

“You could still be one,” Felicity reminded him, her hand moving closer to his on the table.

“I don’t--” Oliver paused, sighing as he pulled his arm back, pressing his fingers against his temple. “I don’t think I know how to anymore.”

Felicity remained silent, watching as Oliver visibly struggled to figure out what he wanted to say.

“Before… before all of this,” Oliver said, waving his hand around the front of him. “It was, it was _easy_. It was just us. I don’t remember having to try. I don’t even remember _how_ we all became friends. It just… it was. I didn’t have to think about it. I never thought it was something that could be ruined. Something I could lose. And then, well, we know what happened. I did ruin that ease.”

He sighed, dropping his hands back down to the table, tightly intertwining his fingers as he shook his head. “I don’t know how to take that back.”

“I don’t… I don’t think you can,” Felicity said carefully, afraid to scare Oliver into shutting down. “What happened, happened, you know? But that doesn’t… that doesn’t mean you can’t move forward? Things may never be the way they were before, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be something. Maybe even better.”

“Felicity,” Oliver started, a tight smile on his face. “To fix that… I wouldn’t know where to start. I don’t think I know how to be a friend to anyone right now, let alone how I could fix relationships I messed up.”

“You’re doing just fine with me,” Felicity reminded him. “I know it’s different. We don’t have anywhere near the history that you all have. But we’re friends, Oliver. And I didn’t… when I first agreed to this, I never would have thought that us potentially being friends would be an outcome.”

“You really consider me your friend?” Oliver asked after a moment.

Felicity looked at him, taking in the surprise on his face, the hint of disbelief in his tone. She knew that Oliver felt guilty about what had happened with the band, with Tommy, but how deep that guilt ran still took her by surprise.

“How could I not?” Felicity stated simply.

“I did ter--” Oliver started, shaking his head. “I know I made mistakes with you too.”

“Yeah,” Felicity agreed, nodding. “You did. And yet here we are, friends.”

“So clearly,” Felicity continued, tapping her finger against his hand. “You have what it takes. Maybe you just need to believe in yourself a little more.”

“Yeah” Oliver conceded, “I’ll have to give that a shot.”

\---

“What do you mean you added in another show in Tallahassee?” Felicity practically squeaked as she looked across the stage to Tommy. “Because that sounds like a detour. A detour that means we will be leaving straight from this show to head south.”

Laurel laughed, her knee bumping into Felicity’s as she covered her mouth. “I tried--”

“No,” Felicity interrupted her, quickly turning her head to glare at her. “I need to sleep in a room that isn’t moving.”

“And we can do that in Texas in _four_ days,” Tommy said, his tone almost irritated as if Felicity was blowing the situation out of proportion.

Which, maybe, she was. But at that moment, she couldn’t find it in her to care.

“No,” Felicity repeated, shaking her head as she turned her attention back to Tommy. “You said that about Charleston. For all I know, you’ll keep selling the same story until we’re back in Starling City.”

“Actually,” Oliver started, sitting on the edge of the couch, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“Wh--what?” Felicity exclaimed, turning her head to glare at Oliver. “You mean it’s a _terrible_ idea, right?”

“No,” Oliver shook his head slowly. “I mean, it’s a good idea.”

“A _good_ idea?” Felicity repeated in disbelief. “Do you ever want to sleep in your bed alone again?”

Felicity paused, pressing her lips together as she realized what she had said.

“I mean--” Felicity stammered, her cheeks red as she ducked her head down. “What I meant was--”

“I know what you meant,” Oliver interrupted, winking as he grinned at her. “I still think it’s a good idea.”

“Thank you,” Tommy said with a nod, his eyes narrowing in confusion while he glanced at Oliver.

“But why stop at Tallahassee?” Oliver asked. “Why don’t we add a few flash shows along the way to the large cities.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Laurel said slowly, quizzically staring at Oliver. “It’d be a great marketing scheme.”

“Exactly,” Oliver stated, licking his lips as he stood up. “The idea of secret, flash concerts is going to be a hit to begin with, but if we plan on doing them in smaller cities… they’ll eat it up. Especially the cities that don’t get much attention.”

Felicity looked between Laurel and Oliver, shaking her head. “You’re both agreeing to this?”

“Not only are we agreeing,” Laurel noted, her lips ticking up. “I think we are expanding on this.”

“How could we not?” Oliver asked, clasping his hands behind his head. “There’s a lot of opportunity here. I’m surprised we haven’t done something like this before.”

“You two are joking right?” Felicity asked, closing her eyes. “This has to be some kind of a joke.”

“Would we do that?” Laurel teased. “We all know how tired you are of being on the bus, Felicity. But this… this could be a really good opportunity for the band.”

Felicity opened her eyes as Tommy started chuckling, watching as he dipped his head into his chest.

“Laurel and Oliver agreeing,” Tommy murmured, taking a quick breath. “About something I suggested.”

Sighing, Felicity pressed her thumbs together, looking down from Tommy to her hands. A hot bath and a night not sleeping on a bus sounded wonderful… but they had a point. A few more shows _would_ help out the band.

Besides, she wasn't there to make changes to the tour schedule. She was only supposed to be filming the band, filming Oliver. It wasn’t her job to become a part of the team. She was only supposed to observe.

If they wanted more tour stops, she had no right to complain.

“Okay,” Felicity said, her voice a little too high as she feigned happiness, hands clasping on top of her lap. “An extra stop in Florida, sounds great.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Oliver asked, tapping his fingers against the side of the couch. “We might be able to figure out a way to have you stay behind and just catch up with us in Texas.”

“No,” Felicity said quickly, shaking her head. “I don’t mind, really. Besides, kind of hard for me to do my job if I’m not actually there.”

“Right,” Oliver teased, his eyes playful as she looked at him. “Like the cameras on the bus don’t do most of the work for you.”

Felicity glared at him, a small smile on her face. “If only it were _that_ easy.”

“So, you’re really okay with this?” Laurel asked, eyes narrowed while she looked back and forth between Tommy and Oliver.

“Yes,” Felicity confirmed slowly, her head tilting to the side. “Why--”

“That’ll be a hundred dollars from the both you,” Tommy announced, interrupting Felicity’s question. “I told you her work ethic would overcome her need to be away from the bus.”

“A bet?” Felicity asked, laughing under her breath. “You three made a bet about me agreeing to this?”

Tommy nodded. “You’d think they’d know by now not to bet against me.”

Felicity shook her head, sighing loudly as she stood up. “So we aren’t going to Florida?”

Laurel smiled, her eyebrows raising as she pulled out a key card. “No, you have an entire night to yourself.”

Felicity took the key card from Laurel, sliding it into the front pocket of her jeans. “A bet,” she muttered, biting down on her lower lip as she looked at Tommy. “When did you guys even have time to talk about this?”

“When we were unloading the equipment,” Tommy answered, nodding toward Oliver. “He mentioned your extensive list of things you want to accomplish in twenty-four hours.”

Felicity sighed, smiling as she looked at Oliver.

He smiled back, his features cautious as he listened to Tommy, as if he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Tommy to decide that now was a good time to bring out the never ending list of things that Oliver had done wrong.

But Tommy didn’t say anything else, the silence beating heavily in the air as the moment passed.

Oliver nodded to himself, his smile brighter as he relaxed. There hadn’t been enough time to set up cameras in the room before, which was a shame. Felicity knew she wouldn’t be able to recreate this moment. She wouldn’t be able to show the world what Oliver Queen looked like when he realized that maybe he still had another chance.

That maybe his manager could still be his best friend.

“I wouldn’t say it’s extensive,” Felicity teased, her eyes warm as she stretched her arms above her head. “But now that I’ve had my hopes and dreams dashed _and_ have had them made the subject of a bet, I think I’m going to my room.”

“Mind if I walk up with you?” Oliver asked, standing up from the armrest of the couch. “I’m exhausted.”

Laurel raised an eyebrow, turning slightly to look at Oliver.

“Sure,” Felicity said, cutting off whatever Laurel had planned to say as she took a step toward Oliver.

Glancing down at her wrist, Felicity tapped her fingers as if she were tapping on the face of a watch. “It’s not even midnight,” she pointed out, teasing as they headed toward the door. “What would your fans say if they knew their favorite rockstar went to bed before midnight?”

Oliver laughed, holding the door open for Felicity. “Probably something like ‘guys, Oliver Queen actually remembered at least 65% of the lyrics to his own songs tonight.’”

“At least 90,” Felicity said, smiling at his fake fan voice while placing her hand on his arm. “At _least_ 90, Oliver.”

\----

Felicity stretched, pushing her toes down toward the end of the bed, her arms lifting above her head. Turning to her side, she stared at the alarm clock sitting at the far corner of the nightstand, pressed against the wall.

_1:45_

She had imagined that after the concert she would take a long bath, drink some wine, and, finally, fall into the peaceful sleep that she hadn’t been able to find on the bus. Yet, the second her head hit the pillow, her brain had taken off into different directions. Did she have the footage she needed for the film? What was she going to do once the tour ended? Were any of these new relationships still going to be there in three months? Six? Would she be okay when they faded away?

She sighed, rolling onto her back.  

It wasn’t fair. She had managed to spend the last few weeks convincing herself that it was the road, the constant noise and movement that had amped up her anxiety. It was difficult admitting that it might just be her.

Tapping her fingers against the thin fabric of her tanktop, Felicity closed her eyes, purposefully trying to push away her thoughts. There wasn’t time for her to begin worrying about the future. She had a band to film. Editing to plan. Moments to enjoy.

She shouldn’t be wasting her time thinking of things that hadn’t happened. Things she couldn’t change.

She _really_ shouldn’t be thinking about what Oliver would say if they were on the bus. How she would have probably already fallen asleep, listening to some story about him and Thea as children. It was a comfort she was growing to enjoy too much, especially for something she knew wasn’t going to last.

The knock on her door was quiet, the sound barely registering to her ears. She sat up, her legs dangling against the side of the bed as she glanced over to the door, waiting for another knock to confirm that someone was there.

Lifting her legs back onto the bed, Felicity laughed, certain that she had imagined the sound. It was after midnight, who would be at her room that late anyway?

But then came another knock. The person hit the door with more force, the sound louder, leaving no room to question that someone was was waiting for her.

Standing, Felicity pulled down at the hem of her tank top, tugging it down past her stomach as she walked toward the door. She peered through the peephole, biting down on her bottom lip as she saw Oliver.

Closing her eyes, Felicity thought back to the first time Oliver had shown up at her hotel room in the middle of the night. It was hard to reconcile the cruelty he had shown her that next morning with the person standing at the door now.

The person who talked to her when she couldn’t fall asleep. The one who made her laugh as he tried to cheat in Go Fish. The one who made light of his attempt at sobriety, the small ways he hated himself creeping out. She had never expected kindness from him, which may be why she was still surprised by how he opened up about his past, his friendship with Tommy, to her.

The metal of the sliding lock was cool against her fingers as she slid the indoor lock open, before she took a step back to open the door.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Felicity asked, her arm resting above her head against the half-open door. With a small laugh, she shook her head.

“I’m surprised you’re up,” Oliver said as he walked into the room, brushing against Felicity as he tried to squeeze by her. “I clearly remember you spending the last week telling me all about how you were going to do nothing but sleep as soon as you got to the hotel room.”

“That’s not true,” Felicity argued, her nose scrunching. “I distinctly remember quite a bit of talk of taking a bath.”

“Oh, don’t tell me I missed that part,” Oliver teased, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I was going to offer to wash your hair.”

Felicity closed her eyes, trying to stop the blush she felt rising from showing on her face as that specific image played out in her head. The image was nice. It was hard not to imagine how nice it would be.

They were dangerous thoughts. Ones she was having a hard time keeping from conjuring as it was. She didn’t need Oliver’s words narrating them.

Glancing down, Felicity cleared her throat while she turned around, pressing the door shut and taking her time to properly place the lock.

“Well aren’t you sweet,” Felicity said in a saccharine voice as she turned back around, her thumbs sliding between the band of her sweatpants and her stomach. Fluttering her eyelashes in an exaggerated manner, she walked closer to the bed. “But I don’t think there’s room for two in that tub.”

Now that she was thinking about it, there was definitely room for two in the tub. If there wasn’t, she was certain she could find a way for there to be room for two. Not that she was supposed to be thinking about things like that right then.

Or at all.

Oliver laughed, shaking his head as he leaned back to stretch flat against the bed, his arms crossed behind his head. “Oh, you’d be amazed at how well I fit.”

“Oh God,” Felicity snorted, her face barely reddening as she sat down next to him. “That is awful. You actually got girls with these lines?”

Oliver closed his eyes, sighing as his feet tapped against the air. “I normally don’t have to try this hard to get girls.”

Tilting her head up, Felicity looked away from Oliver, focusing instead on the ceiling. “The whole rockstar thing not doing it for them anymore?” She teased, purposefully ignoring how her heart picked up speed at his phrasing.

“I like to think I have more than just that going for me. I mean, my good looks and wit were there long before I became famous.”

Felicity shrugged, her body relaxing as she laughed. “I think good looks and wit are just prereqs to being a rockstar. Hard to get far without them and all.”

“Do you really think that’s all I am?” Oliver asked, his voice quiet.

Felicity shook her head, turning around to face Oliver, folding her legs as she placed her hands in the space between her legs.

“No,” she started softly, “sometimes, I think that’s what you want everyone to think though.”

“It’s easy.” Oliver sighed heavily and rolled onto his side. “Letting people think that, it’s easy.”

Felicity just looked at him for a moment. It was obvious to her now how much Oliver tried to be what other people wanted him to be. Letting others mold who he became rather than becoming who he wanted to be.

But she liked _him._ She liked the guy who showed up at her hotel room in the middle of the night just to talk. She liked the guy who was working hard to earn back the trust of his bandmates and friends. She liked the way his voice got deeper the sleepier he got.

She pressed her fingers into the mattress, allowing herself the briefest moment to imagine what it would be like to kiss him then.

She shook her head, putting a stop to the thoughts.

“That doesn’t make it right,” Felicity reminded him, biting down on her lip. “It might be the easy way out, but Oliver, you… you amaze me. If everyone else doesn’t see that--”

“I don’t care about everyone else,” Oliver interrupted, his eyes darkening as he looked up at her.

“But you…” Felicity started, letting her sentence trail off as Oliver sat up.

“I care about you,” Oliver confirmed with a nod.

Felicity blinked, tilting her head in confusion as she repeated what he had said in her head. “You  mean, you care about what I think?”

“That too,” Oliver replied, placing his hand on top of hers. “But mostly I meant that I care about you.”

Felicity smiled nervously, looking down at her hands. “Oliver…”

“I do,” Oliver said. “You don’t let me get away things. You’re honest. You seem to believe in me, and I don’t know what I did to deserve that. You’re beautiful. And you have a really good poker face, and I think--” He cut off with a shaky breath, gaze flickering towards the ceiling as a flush spread over his cheeks. His throat bobbed with a nervous gulp as he met her eyes again, and suddenly he blurted, “Felicity, I want to kiss you. Could I--”

“Yes,” Felicity interrupted breathlessly, turning her hand up underneath his. She nodded and  grinned at him. “I would like that.”

Oliver returned her smile, his thumb brushing over the inside of her wrist. Leaning toward her, he stopped a breath apart from her. Hesitating.

Felicity didn’t want to give herself--or him--time to overthink this. She just _wanted_ it.

She pushed forward and kissed him.


End file.
